BEIJING: China stocks fell for a fourth day on Wednesday but losses were more subdued than earlier in the week after Beijing reiterated its determination to stabilise its wild equity markets.
The CSI300 index fell 0.4 percent to 3,796.77 points at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.2 percent to 3,655.27 points.
But China CSI300 stock index futures for August fell 1 percent to 3,646.4, or 150.37 points below the current value of the underlying index, pointing to expectations of further losses despite unprecedented market support measures from Beijing in recent weeks.
Jaw-dropping price swings, rapidly fading confidence in the market and concerns about China’s cooling economy will likely deter investors from returning in the near-term even if shares show signs of stabilising, analysts said.
Stocks have slumped some 30 percent since mid-June, after more than doubling in just six months.
After showing some signs of rebounding in recent weeks, major indexes plunged more than 8 percent on Monday in their worst single-day drop since 2007.
“The frequent corrections and sharp falls of the stock market recently have made investors more cautious,” said Du Changchun, an analyst at Northeast Securities in Shanghai.
“They are not keen to buy ‘at the bottom’ nowadays like they did before.”
