Punters take a backseat as World Cup fever kicks in

BEIJING - Picking a soccer team now seems a lot more fun than picking a stock on the A-share market as the FIFA World Cup gets ready for its kickoff in South Africa on Friday.

World Cup fever might be enough to divert the attention of the fund managers and stockbrokers from the bourses, which are already depressed by the economic uncertainties. Investors are now worried that the domestic A-share market will hardly prove to be resilient from the World Cup curse.

Researchers have found that global stock markets have a big chance of going down during the month the World Cup is held. Global bourses rose only three times in the past 14 World Cup tournaments.