Equities plummet amid volatility

Benchmark sees wild swings as market weighs policy change on loan collateral

Share prices tumbled the most since 2009 in China amid volatile trading that spurred the benchmark index's biggest swings in five years on Tuesday and sent turnover to a record.

The Shanghai Composite Index slid 5.4 percent to 2,856.27 at the close, the most since August 2009, after earlier gaining as much as 2.4 percent. The nation's four biggest lenders including Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd plunged more than 9 percent, while PetroChina Co, the biggest stock, slumped 8 percent. Lower-rated bonds fell and the yuan weakened to four-month lows after policymakers said riskier bonds can no longer be used as collateral for some short-term loans.