BEIJING: China’s stocks fell for a second day, led by technology and energy shares, as a drop in profits for the nation’s industrial companies deepened concern the economy is weakening.
The Shanghai Composite Index retreated 1.3 percent to 4,017.44 at 10:10 a.m., extending Friday’s 1.3 percent decline. PetroChina Co., the biggest stock by market value, slumped 3.3 percent. Leshi Internet Information & Technology (Beijing) Co. and East Money Information Co., the largest companies in the ChiNext index, slid more than 5 percent. China Vanke Co. surged 2 percent to pace gains for real estate companies.
Industrial profits dropped 0.3 percent in June from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said Monday, after data Friday showed a private gauge of manufacturing in the nation unexpectedly declined in July to the lowest level in 15 months.
