China stocks fall 3 pct on policy concerns
SHANGHAI, Nov 26 (Reuters) - China's key stock index dropped more than 3 percent in heavy trade on Thursday afternoon, led by banks, as some investors fled the market amid mounting worries that the government may take steps to clamp down on surging asset prices.
The Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC fell to 3,186.664 points, down 3.15 percent.
The index had rebounded 2.07 percent on Wednesday after posting its biggest one-day drop in nearly three months the day before, falling 3.5 percent.
"Concerns over a clampdown on asset prices, including stocks and property, have altered the trend of uninterrupted rises seen from early September until early this week, which was spurred by the strong economic recovery and corporate earnings," said a senior trader at a major Chinese brokerage.
"Many think the clampdown might come in the first quarter of next year, with the government probably adding share supplies and cancelling preferential property policies."
An increasing number of officials and researchers have been warning about possible asset price bubbles amid signs that speculative hot money is again flowing into China on a large scale, in line with a global trend of funds flowing into emerging markets. [ID:nPEK198345] [ID:nPEK268294] [ID:nPEK279947]
Banks led the fall on concerns about shrinking lending and a possible need to raise funds next year to shore up their capital, with Industrial & Commercial Bank of China (601398.SS) dropping 3 percent to 5.17 yuan and one of the most active stocks.
Minsheng Banking (600016.SS) sagged 5.5 percent to 7.9 yuan after a dull Hong Kong debut. [ID:nHKG251850] ($1 = 6.83 yuan) (Reporting by Lu Jianxin and Edmund Klamann) ((jianxin.lu@thomsonreuters.com; (8621) 6104-1792)) ((Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for: * 3000 Xtra : visit topnews.session.rservices.com * BridgeStation: view story .134 * Reuters Plus: from your WebDSS screen For more information on Top News, visit topnews.reuters.com)) Hong Kong report [.HK] Taiwan report [.TW] Shanghai indices <0#.INX.SS> Shenzhen indices <0#.INX.SZ> Hong Kong indices <0#.INX.HK> H-share index .HSCE Red share index .HSCC SPEED GUIDES REUTER CHINA EQUITY <EQUITY/NEWS1> RELATED NEWS AND OTHER TOPICS China news [CN] All equity news [E] Greater China news [Z] Chinese summary [TOP/CN] Hong Kong news [HK] Chinese hot stocks [CN-HOT] Taiwan news [TW] China IPOs [CN-IPO] Chinese diary [CN/DIARY] Hong Kong IPOs [HK/IPO] Press digests [PRESS/CN] [PRESS/HK] [PRESS/TW]
