By Xinhua,
Beijing : China’s benchmark stock index plunged 5.62 percent Monday, the biggest one-day loss since late January, as sell-offs on Wall Street and regional markets further undermined investor confidence.
As virtually every share declined, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 196.22 points to 3,296.67.
The Shenzhen Component Index plummeted 984.50 points, or 7.39 percent, to 12,343.61, the biggest percentage loss since June 4 last year.
The plunge came amid expectations that China’s government would stick to its tightening policies, said Hong Yanhua, an analyst at Huiyang Investment.
Analysts said that panic selling pushed shares lower across the board, with losses outnumbering gains by 825 to 24 in Shanghai and by 640 to 32 in Shenzhen. Aggregate turnover was 99.6 billion yuan ($14.2), compared with 91.5 billion yuan Friday.
China still faced high inflationary pressures, Liu Shiyu, vice governor of the country’s central bank People’s Bank of China, said Saturday in Shanghai.
Liu cited preliminary statistics that indicated the consumer price index (CPI) hit eight percent for the first quarter, although it eased to 8.3 percent in March from a 12-year-high of 8.7 percent in February.