July 31, 2010 (Chinavestor) – July ended on a lukewarm note for both U.S. and Chinese stocks on Friday, but it's impossible to deny it was a strong month for equities on both sides of the Pacific. Asian stocks finished higher for the fourth straight week with the Hang Seng gaining 1% on the week and the Shanghai Composite (000001:SHA) moving higher by 2.6%. U.S. stocks closed lower on the week, but the S&P 500 notched its best monthly gain since July 2009. It was the first month the index closed higher since April. 
Internet names were strong, led by a 4.4% run for Sohu.com (Nasdaq:SOHU) on the back of solid earnings. Baidu (Nasdaq:BIDU), China's largest search provider, moved in kind, adding more than 4%. 51Job (Nasdaq:JOBS) added almost 10% while Aluminum Corp. of China (NYSE:ACH) gained nearly 3% after announcing a major iron ore mining agreement with Rio Tinto (NYSE:RTP).
Solar names pulled back in a big way after several weeks of tidy gains that had the group looking overbought. Yingli Green Energy (NYSE:YGE) lost almost 13% while Suntech Power (NYSE:STP) and Trina Solar (NYSE:TSL) both lost more than 10%. JA Solar (Nasdaq:JASO) lost 6.3%.
Despite a strong volume gain of 6.53% on Friday, AsiaInfo Holdings (Nasdaq:ASIA) was hammered by a glum earnings report that led to a loss of more than 23%. WuXi PharmaTech (NYSE:WX) lost almost 5% on news that Charles River Laboratories (NYSE:CRL) scrapped its acquisition bid for the Chinese company.
Taking a look at small-caps, on no news but some decent volume, China Natural Resources (Nasdaq:CHNR) surged almost 24%. AirMedia (Nasdaq:AMCN) was no slouch either, adding over 15% for the week. Chindex International (Nasdaq:CHDX) finished the week higher by nearly 13% after adding 4.55% on Friday on better than triple the average daily volume. Agria (NYSE:GRO) led the way among agriculture names, soaring by 11.54% on the week.
China Biotics (Nasdaq:CHBT) gained 9.4% while Jinpan International (Nasdaq:JST) and VisionChina Media (Nasdaq:VISN) both added almost 9%. 3SBio (Nasdaq:SSRX) added over 8%. Winner Medical Group (Nasdaq:WWIN) The9 Ltd. (Nasdaq:NCTY) both popped by close to 8% each.
Even after a nice gain of almost 6% on Friday on volume that was better than triple the daily average, China Infrastructure & Investment (Nasdaq:CIIC) plunged by more than 32% on the week to lead the small-cap losers. Noah Education (NYSE:NED) was the only other double-digit loser among small-caps, losing over 15%.
Commodities names were weak with Fushi Copperweld (Nasdaq:FSIN) dropping 6% and General Steel (NYSE:GSI) losing more than 6%. A volatile week for oil prices helped WSP Holdings (NYSE:WH) shed 6%. China Housing & Land Development (Nasdaq:CHLN) and Tongxin International (Nasdaq:TXIC) both lost more than 5%. HQ Sustainable Maritime Industries (AMEX:HQS) and A-Power Energy Generation Systems (Nasdaq:APWR) each lost almost 5%.
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