Commodity price plunge sends the markets tumbling
SHANGHAI - Stocks on the Chinese mainland fell on Friday, capping the longest stretch of weekly losses for the benchmark index this year. The retreat came as plunging commodity prices boosted concerns about a slowdown in the global economy.
China Shenhua Energy Co and PetroChina Co, the nation's biggest producers of coal and oil, retreated at least 1.6 percent after the Standard & Poor's GSCI index of 24 commodities dropped the most since 2009. Guangxi Wuzhou Zhongheng Group Co led an advance among health-care stocks after Shenyin & Wanguo Securities Co said profit growth for drugmakers may accelerate.
"Confidence in the stock market is very fragile," said Li Xunlei, an economist at Guotai Junan Securities Co, China's second-biggest brokerage by revenue. The drop in commodity prices has boosted concerns about the global economic outlook, he said.
