Stocks break seven-day winning streak

Mainland stocks fell for the first time in eight days, halting its longest-winning streak since May, as financial and commodity companies slumped.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell below 3,000 points after rising above that level for the first time in two months on Monday. Trading volumes were 30 percent above the average. Guotai Junan Securities Co paced declines for brokerages after rising by the day's 10 percent limit on Monday. Air China Ltd led losses by airlines shares in Hong Kong as Brussels airport was evacuated after two explosions.

The Shanghai gauge rebounded 14 percent from a January low through Monday amid signs of State-fund buying during this month's National People's Congress and as policymakers loosened controls on margin lending. Recent media reports citing People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan as encouraging individuals to invest personal savings in the stock market were "misinterpretations", the central bank said in a Weibo post.