Chinese stocks continued to dive on Thursday, with Shanghai dipping below the 2,900-mark, again, as market sentiment remained fragile despite the steadier currency rate and more liquidity injected into the capital market.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 3.23 percent to close at 2,880.48 points. While Shenzhen dropped 3.77 percent to close the day at 9,975.97 points. The ChiNext Index, the NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, dived 4.18 percent to close at 2,112.40 points. The ChiNext reclaimed its role as the worst performing index after its excellent debut earlier this week.
Total turnover on the two bourses waned, standing at 536.2 billion yuan (81.76 billion U.S. dollars).
Losers outnumbered gainers by 957 to 44 in Shanghai and 1,470 to 81 in Shenzhen. Chinese shares inched into positive territory after a weak session on Thursday morning.
Both Shanghai and Shenzhen indexes resumed the downtrend after midday and wobbled during the whole afternoon session. The losses increased near closing, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index nose-diving more than 3 percent.
The oil industry suffered, as global oil prices continued to drop. PetroChina Company Ltd. lost 2.68 percent and closed at 7.26 yuan.
Sub-indices related to aviation, electricity and steel were also among the worst performers on Thursday, with losses spread over all sectors.
Stocks edged up in the morning session as China's central bank continued to ease liquidity strain for the financial system, following its pledge earlier this week to channel more than 600 billion yuan before the upcoming Spring Festival holiday.
According to the People's Bank of China (PBOC), another 400 billion yuan (60.8 billion U.S. dollars) will be injected into the financial system through reverse repurchase (repo) operations.
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