(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-02-13 16:23

BEIJING - Chinese shares fell on Wednesday, the first trading day after the week-long Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, when global markets sharply slumped as jittery investors expect a higher monthly consumer price index to be released this week.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 108.98 points, or 2.37 percent, to 4,490.72, while the Shenzhen Component Index ended down 357.20 points, or 2.12 percent, to 16,502.44.

Losses led gains by 490 to 297 in Shanghai and by 399 to 209 in Shenzhen. Aggregate turnover totaled 88.3 billion yuan.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 4.4 percent in the past week, adding to investors' worries over the global economy.

Experts forecast China's consumer price index (CPI) in January, expected to come out this week, will rise more than 7 percent year on year, indicating more stringent macro-control measures by the government.