Chinese shares continued their losing streak on Tuesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dipping 3.52 percent to end at 3,005.17 points. The Shenzhen Component Index lost 4.98 percent to close at 9,290.81 points.
The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, lost 5.70 percent to close at 1,797.56 points. Only 59 shares rose while 862 shares lost in Shanghai, the valuation of which once dived more than 4 percent in the afternoon session. Meanwhile, 1,330 losers outnumbered the 65 winners in Shenzhen.
More than 700 shares fell by the daily limit of 10 percent. Total turnover on the two bourses was 477.61 billion yuan (74.98 billion U.S. dollars), far less than the 681.06 billion registered on Monday. The shares have slumped for two days in a row after weak economic data released over the weekend, adding to worries about the world's second-largest economy.
China's value-added industrial output expanded 6.1 percent year on year in August, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Sunday. The growth rate was up slightly from 6 percent in July, but still fell short of market expectations. Fixed-asset investment grew 10.9 percent year on year in the first eight months, retreating from the 11.2-percent growth registered in the first seven months, NBS data showed. A property downturn, industrial overcapacity, sluggish demand and weak exports held China's growth to 7 percent in the first half of the year.
Furthermore, capital market volatility, currency devaluation and slumping global commodity prices look set to further stall economic growth. The major Shanghai index has suffered big losses after plummeting around 40 percent since hitting a June 12 peak, and lost all its gains since the beginning of the year.
On Friday, the China Securities Regulatory Commission announced that it had punished five brokers with fines and confiscation of illegal profits for their illegal operations. The stock watchdog said its clampdown on illicit securities trading will not impact the market.
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