Chinese stocks decline over slowdown concern
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E-mail Xinhua, March 15, 2012
Chinese stocks continued their declines Thursday, driving the benchmark Shanghai index to its lowest level in three weeks, as falling foreign investment has fueled concerns about an economic slowdown.
The country received 7.73 billion U.S. dollars in foreign direct investment last month, down 0.9 percent year-on-year and falling for the fourth consecutive month, the Ministry of Commerce said.
The figure and other economic indicators, including lower growth in inflation, industrial production and power consumption, have all added to concerns that a slowdown in the country's growth might worsen, dampening investor sentiment.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slid 0.73 percent, or 17.46 points, to end at 2,373.77. The Shenzhen Component Index dipped 0.08 percent, or 8.33 points, to end at 10,086.56.
Combined turnover at the two bourses shrank to 215.7 billion yuan (34.02 billion U.S. dollars) from 327.6 billion yuan the previous trading day.
Losers outnumbered gainers by 692 to 224 in Shanghai and by 1,003 and 404 in Shenzhen.
Property developers continued their downward movement after Premier Wen Jiabao said Wednesday that the country will not slacken its efforts to regulate housing prices, which Wen said are still "far from a reasonable level."
China Vanke, the nation's largest real estate developer by market value, dropped 0.97 percent to 8.21 yuan per share. Poly Real Estate, China's second-largest developer, shed 2.55 percent to 10.72 yuan.
Shares of gold producers also dropped after gold prices fell on the global market. Zhongjin Gold Corp. lost 2.72 percent to 21.45 yuan, while Lao Feng Xiang, a domestic jeweler, plunged 4.18 percent to 29.09 yuan.
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