Chinese stock markets slumped by more than 2 percent on Tuesday due to panic selling as investors dump bluechip shares for fear of downward readjustment.

 

The Composite Stock Index on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, which comprises yuan-denominated A shares and foreign-currency B shares, closed at 1,259.92 points, down 28.34 points, or 2.25 percent. Total turnover was 10.6 billion yuan (US$13 billion).

 

The major index of Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the Shenzhen Composite Index, was down by 96.58 points, or 2.9 percent, to close at 3,233.47 points, with total a turnover of 59.8 billion yuan.

 

A total of 79 shares listed on the two bourses went up, 1,146 shares were down and 14 shares maintained the closing prices of the previous day.

 

Hong Yanhua, an analyst with Sanyuan Securities Consultancy Co, said the fall of the share prices of such major blue chips as Sinopec, telecommunications giant Unicom, Yangtze Hydroelectric Power and real estate leader Wanke was attributable to the downward adjustment of the markets.

 

Hong described the readjustment as a normal one since the Shanghai Composite Stock Index has been fluctuating around 1,300 point level for nearly 20 days, and the fall of major bluechips that are vital to the confidence of investors therefore triggered panic selling.

 

It remains to be seen as for how far the readjustment will go, said the analyst.

 

Gu Jie, an analyst with Hualin Securities Co., said that slumps of red chips, or the shares of State-owned enterprises listed on the Hong Kong stock market, also gave a blow to the confidence of investors on the Chinese mainland since the two markets have begun to interact recently.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 8, 2006)