Shanghai stocks tumble after more weak data

Shanghai stocks tumble after more weak data
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Summary In Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index lost 0.10 percent, or 22.15 points, to 21,482.22

HONG KONG (AFP) - Shanghai stocks tumbled more than three percent Monday morning while Hong Kong also retreated after more weak data highlighted weakness in China s economy, with dealers brushing off plans to overhaul the country s state-run companies.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 3.20 percent, or 102.52 points, to 3,097.71 by lunch.

The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China s second exchange, plunged 4.53 percent, or 80.71 points, to 1,700.64.

In Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index lost 0.10 percent, or 22.15 points, to 21,482.22.

Growth in China s industrial production and retail sales accelerated in August, government data showed Sunday, but the figures did little to ease international concern about the world s second-largest economy.

Industrial production, which measures output at factories, workshops and mines, rose 6.1 percent year-on-year in August, improving from July s 6.0 percent but still below a median forecast of 6.5 percent in a survey of economists by Bloomberg News.

Retail sales rose 10.8 percent on-year, exceeding the previous month s 10.5 percent and slightly better than the median estimate in the survey of 10.6 percent.

"The economic reports don t look good, so investors prefer to be on the sidelines," Wu Kan, a Shanghai-based fund manager at JK Life Insurance, said.

"The SOE (state-owned enterprise) reform rules were widely expected by the market and aren t very detailed, therefore the reaction is limited. The market could fall to a lower level."

China on Sunday unveiled broad reform guidelines for state-owned companies aimed at making them more globally competitive and increasing transparency.

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