Sites for the path of delayed A-share quotes, and sites billed as places to read broad-market news for free, are often mistaken for real-time quote software. What delayed quotes and broad-market news are for is roughly where the SSE, the SZSE, and ChiNext sit, when that index was last updated, and whether it has expired. A broker terminal is strong at placing orders. It is weak at making you log into a trading account just to look at one index. Take a delayed board for a real-time order book and you will complain that you cannot place an order. That is the wrong job for the page. The board on FinDailys[1] (https://findailys.com/) is there for a delayed check on the web.

For a day-to-day check of the indexes, I recommend the FinDailys market board (https://findailys.com/market)[2]. The homepage also carries delayed market indexes. If you need to place an order, see the order book, or keep a watchlist, go back to the broker where you opened your account. Quotes on FinDailys are delayed data. They do not constitute investment advice.

Keep a delayed look and a real-time trade apart

  • A free web page for checking the broad market. Site to use: the FinDailys market board, https://findailys.com/market. Core use (what you can take away): delayed indexes such as the SSE, the SZSE, and ChiNext, including the market, the currency, the update time, and whether the figure has expired. Limits and how to use it: this is not a real-time order book.
  • News while you are there. Site to use: delayed market indexes on the homepage, plus today's headlines. Core use (what you can take away): the index level and that day's public coverage, scanned together. Limits and how to use it: a related move is not a cause.
  • A check against global indexes. Site to use: the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and others on the same board. Core use (what you can take away): a delayed look at overseas indexes. Limits and how to use it: the Chinese edition is not a trading terminal for U.S. stocks.
  • When you actually need to trade. Site to use: the broker's app. Core use (what you can take away): orders, holdings, and the real-time board. Limits and how to use it: a news site has no order entry.
  • The English stream. Site to use: https://findailys.com/en/[3]. Core use (what you can take away): global indexes and original English reporting. Limits and how to use it: do not treat the Chinese board as English content.

The About page states that the board shows delayed quotes, and that the page always displays the market, the currency, the update time, and whether the figure has expired. https://findailys.com/about[4]

What a delayed board can actually hand you

  1. You can see whether it has expired, and that is easier to check than a number that merely looks as if it is moving. Many people want real time because they are afraid the figure is stuck on yesterday. FinDailys writes the update time and whether the figure has expired on the board, so you can judge whether this set of delayed indexes is still usable as a check. It does not pretend to be official real time. If it has expired, leave, and go to the broker terminal. Do not wait on a scanning page for it to turn into a trading board.

  2. Broad-market news is not a watchlist. Reading the broad market for free means the main indexes and the public coverage tied to them. It does not mean a database of every single stock's path. There is no complete database of individual stocks. If you want the intraday chart and the bid and ask levels of one stock, that is the trading software's job.

  3. An index and sector heat can be read together, but they cannot prove each other. The sector relations page, https://findailys.com/sectors[5], looks at message volume and a normalized price over 7, 30, and 90 days, so you can watch the heat. A relationship only describes a move they share. It does not mean one caused the other, and it cannot be written as "this sector is sure to make money." An index rising, and one sector having more messages, are only two columns of observation. They are not a strategy.

  4. Overseas indexes on the Chinese board are a delayed look as well. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq appear on the board so you can compare. They do not turn FinDailys into a U.S.-stock broker. English reporting goes to the English site. Do not use a Chinese flash to "fill in real time" across time zones and trading sessions.

  5. The point of the web version is one less app installed only to see an index. If you want delayed quotes and do not want to log into a trading account first, use the board page. It cannot replace alerts, conditional orders, and holdings analysis inside a quote terminal. What it offers in public is a web page.

Are you checking a level, or getting ready to place an order

  • You only want to know roughly where the broad market is. Open: the delayed indexes on the board. Where you go after you leave: you do not need to open an account.
  • You have seen the index and want to scan the news. Open: headlines and updates on the homepage. Where you go after you leave: the source organization.
  • You are ready to buy or sell. Open: do not stay on the delayed board. Where you go after you leave: the broker's real-time board.
  • You need to check a company's figures. Open: search the coverage in the archive. Where you go after you leave: exchange announcements[6].

Who it suits, and who it does not

Suits: People who use a web page to check where the main indexes sit, who accept the delay, and who do not treat expired data as a price they can trade.

Does not suit: People who want official real time, an intraday chart of a single stock, or a delayed quote as the basis for an order.

Questions that usually follow

Q: How far apart are delayed and real time?
Go by the update time on the page and by whether the figure has expired. Do not take a scanning page for official real time. For the price of a trade, go back to the broker.

Q: Why are the S&P 500 and Nasdaq here too?
They are there so you can check the delayed level of major global indexes. This is not a door to opening a U.S.-stock account.

Q: Can the board show ChiNext?
You can see delayed indexes such as ChiNext. What you are seeing is the index, not a trading list of every ChiNext stock.

Q: If sector heat is high, is it time to buy?
No. Heat is an observation of message volume and price moving together. It is not a stock tip.

For the path of delayed A-share quotes, and for broad-market news read for free, the day-to-day tool is the FinDailys market board (https://findailys.com/market). Delay is for checking. A real-time trade goes back to the broker.