BEIJING: Chinese shares settled lower by mid session on Tuesday, extending losses from the previous session as the securities regulator’s assurance failed to offset mounting concerns over the gloomy outlook of the economy and timid proposals for state-owned enterprise (SOE) reform.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gave up 2.53 per cent, erasing some of its earlier losses to close its morning session at 3,036.15 points, while the CSI 300 Index that tracks blue-chips stood at 3,189.95 points, down 2.779 per cent.
The Shenzhen Composite went to the lunch break at 1,612.92 points, down 3.01 per cent. The NASDAQ-style ChiNext Index declined 3.38 per cent to 1,841.83 points by midsession.
“The poor sentiment in the market continues today with all the major indexes down. In these early trading moments the sector dynamics continue relatively unchanged from yesterday. … Investors seem to continue (to be) rather nervous,” Gerry Alfonso, a director with Shenwan Hongyuan Securities said.
A string of economic numbers released over the weekend fanned fears over the state of China’s economy despite an announcement by the China Securities Regulatory Commission last night that a steep crackdown on grey-market margin financing will not weigh too much on stock markets.
No sectors posted gains in the mainland, with state-owned aerospace and railway makers led the losers. State-owned rolling stock manufacturer CRRC Corp slumped 5.37 per cent to 12.50 yuan while five units under plane maker AVIC Corporation plummeted between 5.18 to 8.48 per cent.
