25 Aug 2015

Chinese stocks swing for a second day

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 slump

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.