Equities fall to their lowest in eight months in Shanghai

SHANGHAI - China's stocks fell, sending the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index to an eight-month low, as concern Europe's debt crisis will halt the global recovery spurred the biggest drop in US equities in a year.

Air China Ltd, the nation's largest international carrier, and Jiangxi Copper Co, the biggest producer of the metal, paced declines for airlines and commodity companies as a slowdown may cut demand for flights and raw materials. China COSCO Holdings Co, the world's largest operator of dry-bulk ships, slid 5 percent.

"There could be an economic ripple effect globally if this is not quickly contained," said Howard Wang, Hong Kong-based head of the China team at JF Asset Management, which oversees about $50 billion. "And as we saw two years ago, there's a danger in underestimating these ripple effects."