BEIJING: China’s stocks fell to a five-week low after a Caixin report that billionaire Guo Guangchang was missing added to concerns that slowing economic growth and an anti-corruption campaign are clouding earnings outlooks.
The Shanghai Composite Index slid 0.9 percent to 3,425.43 at 11:26 a.m. local time. Closely held Fosun Group, which controls Fosun International Ltd., has “lost contact” with Guo, 48, the magazine said, citing people it didn’t identify. Bonds in Fosun International fell by a record and the company suspended its shares in Hong Kong after the report, while other mainland stocks with ties to Fosun also requested halts. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index retreated for a seventh day, led by rail, power and health-care companies.
President Xi Jinping has waged a battle against corruption since coming to power, while a probe into this year’s $5 trillion stock rout has ensnared officials at the securities regulator, senior staff at Citic Securities Co., and a top fund manager. Data on Saturday will probably show China’s industrial production remained near a six-year low in November, while fixed-asset investment this year slowed to the weakest pace since 2000.
“Since lots of senior managers have gone missing like this case, it has negative implications on the market even though nobody knows what has happened,” Ronald Wan, chief executive at Partners Capital International in Hong Kong. “Investors tend to be more cautious now.”
