BEIJING: China’s main stock indexes fell nearly 1 percent on Thursday as investors dumped blue-chip shares such as banks and real estate firms on worries about the slowing economy.
But Shenzhen’s Nasdaq-style ChiNext, which tracks high-growth start-ups, closed at a record high, in a sign that money is shifting into small caps.
Premier Li Keqiang told the National People’s Congress (NPC) at the opening of the annual parliamentary meeting that China would target growth this year of around 7 percent, down from 7.4 percent in 2014 and signalling the lowest expansion for a quarter of a century.
“The downward pressure on China’s economy is intensifying,” Li said.
The CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen fell 1.0 percent, to 3,496.34 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.9 percent, to 3,248.48.
Among the most active stocks in Shanghai were Bank of China , down 2.8 percent to 3.80 yuan; Agricultural Bank of China, down 2.5 percent to 3.14 ;yuan and China State Construction, down 1.8 percent to 6.06 yuan.
In Shenzhen, TCL Corp, down 1.7 percent to 5.37 yuan; BOE Technology, down 1.5 percent to 3.21 yuan; and Dongxu Optoelec, up 10.0 percent to 10.16 yuan were among the most actively traded.
