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SHANGHAI STOCKS FALL ON LENDING CONCERNS
Chinese stocks yesterday recorded their biggest fall in more than a year as investors fretted that a slowdown in bank lending would stall the economic recovery both in China and around the world.
The 6.7 per cent slump was the worst since June 2008 and capped a dismal August for the Shanghai composite index, which recorded its second biggest monthly loss for 15 years. The index fell 21.8 per cent last month, compared with a 4.1 per cent drop by Hong Kong's Hang Seng index, a 3 per cent rise in the S&P 500 index and an 8.4 per cent gain in the FTSE 100 index over the same period.
Yesterday's decline in Shanghai also led US and European markets lower amid concerns that any faltering in the Chinese recovery could drag on economies elsewhere as they emerge from the worst economic crisis since the 1930s.
The fall appeared to have been triggered by a report on the website of financial magazine Caijing, which said that new lending in August had tumbled again from sharply lower July levels. The report sparked fears that the strong bank lending that powered this year's rally in the Chinese market and in the economy would be choked off by the government. It also raised concerns that the pipeline of companies looking to list on the mainland could be affected. China is one of the only areas with a robust market in stock market debuts.
Shanghai's weakness made it the worst performer in August among 89 indexes tracked by Bloomberg globally – a stunning reversal from the mainland market's glory days of earlier this year, when it was often the world's best performing market.
With additional reporting by Xi Chen in Hong Kong and Shirley Chen in Shanghai
