 Shares hit 17-month low
By Jin Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-02 07:37 SHANGHAI: The mainland stock market fell 3.09 percent to close at a 17-month low yesterday, led by financial and real estate companies as investors worried about interest rate hikes. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slid 84.49 points to close at 2651.61, with 724 out of 911 stocks closing lower. The Shenzhen Component Index tumbled 2.92 percent, or 273.81 points, to close at 9096.97. The turnover on the two bourses amounted to 63.86 billion yuan ($9.31 billion), up 4.2 percent from Monday. Total capitalization dropped 3 percent to 17.25 trillion yuan. Banks fell sharply due to investors' worries on interest rate hikes. Central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan was quoted as saying on Monday that raising interest rates remains an option for China in its battle against inflation. China Merchants Bank plunged 9.99 percent to close at 21.08 yuan, while Shanghai Pudong Development Bank slid 8.5 percent. Investors' worries on China's economic slowdown were intensified as Xie Hongguang, deputy head of the National Bureau of Statistics, said that the country's economic growth may continue to slide as it faces huge inflationary pressure. (China Daily 07/02/2008 page2) |
