Asian markets experience a turbulent start to Tuesday as Chinese stocks tumbled for a second day, following ‘Black Monday’.
Worries over Chinese growth triggered a global sell-off, leading to a 7.6 per cent fall in the country’s main stock exchange, the Shanghai Composite.
On Monday the Shanghai Composite lost 8.5 per cent – the worst fall since 2007.
The tech-focussed Shenzhen Composite fell 7 per cent. The Hong Kong Hang Send index lost 0.5 per cent in early trade but improved slightly later in the day. The Tokyo Nikkei index closed 4 per cent lower.
However, some markets in Asia and Australia showed gains on Tuesday, suggesting that the financial panic outside China could be calming.
China’s economy, which grew at 9 per cent and above per year in the period of rapid industrialisation in the 2000s, has slowed considerably as China reported a sharp fall in exports and producer prices to a near six-year-low.
Jasper Lawler, market analyst at CMC Markets, said that investors around the world were spooked on Monday after China’s central bank “spectacularly failed” to stimulate the economy, in a world where huge stimulus efforts are underpinning recovery efforts in Europe and the US.