Mainland shares tumble
24-12-2008
China shares fell as investors disappointed by the size of an interest rate cut dumped financial shares and other heavyweights. The Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 4.55 percent, or 90 points, to 1,897 in an afternoon rout that saw heavy losses in banks, insurers, airlines, resource and property shares. PetroChina, the market's heaviest weighted share, fell 4.6 percent to 10.43 yuan. China cut interest rates yesterday for the fifth time in four months in a new effort to revive economic growth amid mounting anxiety about spreading job losses and worker protests. But the 0.27 percentage point cut in the one-year lending rate failed to impress investors, analysts said. "Most bank shares fell on concerns over the impact of lower interest rates on their profits," said Peng Yunliang, an analyst at Shanghai Securities. "Rationality was discarded in panic selling," he said. "Investors' confidence is on the edge of collapse."
