BEIJING: Chinese stocks headed for their biggest decline in six weeks as traders weighed weaker-than-expected economic data in March against bets that the government will increase stimulus.
Gauges of technology companies and commodity producers slumped more than 2.5 percent. Software developer Hundsun Technologies Inc. lost 6.3 percent, while BBMG Corp., a cement maker, tumbled 5 percent. Industrial production grew 5.6 percent in March, missing the lowest forecast in Bloomberg’s survey of 40 economists, data showed Wednesday. The economy expanded 7 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, the slowest pace in six years.
The Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.1 percent to 4,089.52 at the noon time break, with five stocks retreating for each that rose. The index jumped 73 percent in the past six months, the most among 92 benchmark indexes globally. Premier Li Keqiang’s government has already relaxed home-purchasing rules, cut interest rates twice and reduced the reserves banks must set aside to bolster the world’s second-largest economy.
