China stocks fall 1.7 pct on share supply concerns
SHANGHAI, Dec 9 (Reuters) - China's key stock index fell 1.73 percent on Wednesday on concerns over rising share supplies and possible fundraising by banks, while sluggish overseas markets also weighed on sentiment but auto shares jumped on upbeat sales.
The Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC ended at 3,239.568 points, its lowest close in more than one week.
Losing Shanghai A shares outnumbered gainers by 747 to 156, while turnover dropped to five-week low of 136 billion yuan ($19.92 billion) from Tuesday's 162 billion yuan.
China Shipbuilding Industry (601989.SS) said on Wednesday it priced its A-share initial public offering at 7.38 yuan a share, as expected at the top of an indicated range, raising 14.7 billion yuan. [ID:nSHA236671]
Banks fell for a second day, with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) (601398.SS) sinking 1.51 percent to 5.22 yuan.
Industrial Bank (601166.SS), a mid-sized Chinese lender, sagged 3.2 percent to 38.99 yuan after saying that its shareholders had approved its plan for an 18 billion yuan rights share issue. [ID:nTOE5B70AH]
But the auto sector was firmer on upbeat sales, with FAW Car (000800.SZ) rising 8.80 percent to 26.34 yuan while FAW Xiali Automobile 000927.SZ jumped its 10 percent daily limit to 10.12 yuan.
China's passenger cars sales in November nearly doubled from a year earlier, official data showed, paving the way for roughly 50 percent growth in 2009 as government stimulus measures boosted consumption. [ID:nSHA128037] ($1=6.827 Yuan) (Reporting by Claire Zhang and Edmund Klamann)
