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Shanghai stocks plunge 4.39% at the open
Shanghai stocks opened down 4
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hanghai stocks opened down 4.39 percent Wednesday on deepening gloom over the Chinese economy which slammed global markets overnight, dealers said.
China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slumped 138.94 points to 3,027.68.
The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, dropped 4.66 percent, or 79.60 points, to 1,628.18.
"Poor economic data and weak investor confidence are together pushing down the market now," Zheshang Securities analyst Zhang Yanbing told AFP. "The market is on a downward trend and it can't be stopped now."
The Chinese government said Tuesday that its Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) of manufacturing activity came in at 49.7 last month, its lowest for three years.
Global stock markets plunged on Tuesday on the evidence of the slowdown in China's economy -- the world's second largest -- which triggered sell-offs in US and European markets.
"The (China) market fell as global markets slumped last night," Zhang Gang, an analyst at Central China Securities, told AFP.
Trading on China's stock markets has been extremely volatile for the past two months, after a 150 percent rally over the previous year collapsed from its peak in mid-June.
The government has launched a rescue package to prop up the market, which includes funding a state-backed company to buy shares, but investors worry the government will reduce its intervention.
Chinese financial markets will be closed on Thursday and Friday for a holiday to commemorate the 70th anniversary of victory over Japan and the end of World War II, with trading to resume on Monday. (++++)
