Slowing profit growth preoccupies investors

China's stock market fell yesterday, greatly underperforming other markets in the region for a second straight day, as worries about slowing corporate profit growth outweighed an easing of the global financial panic.

The Shanghai Composite Index, which had opened yesterday 3.16 percent higher, closed down 2.71 percent at 2017.321 points in moderate turnover.

It far underperformed the MSCI index of Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan, which was up over 6 percent after governments in the United States and Europe pledged to pour money into struggling banks.