Mainland stocks retreat, pressured by anti-speculation crackdown, shrugging off better-than-expected GDP data for first quarter
National Bureau of Statistics reports China’s GDP grew 6.9pc in first quarter, the fastest pace since third quarter of 2015
Mainland Chinese stocks dropped on Monday, extending a 1.2 per cent loss last week, as investors grew wary of tightened regulations on speculative trading and shrugged off better-than-expected GDP data for the first quarter.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.8 per cent or 23.9 points to end at 3,222.2, paring back an earlier decline that at one point saw the index below the 3,200 threshold.
The large-cap CSI300 dropped 0.2 per cent or 6.6 points to 3,479.9. The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.7 per cent lower to 10,450.9, and the startup board ChiNext index lost 1 per cent to 1,868.3.
Shares in recently listed companies tumbled after securities regulators warned of speculative trading in those stocks, while some stocks related to Xiongan New Area also retreated following sharp gains earlier this month.
“We’ve already seen ‘flash crashes’ in several stocks’ prices last week. That suggests money has escaped in response to regulators’ efforts to curb stock speculation,” said Yan Kaiwen, an equity analyst for China Fortune Securities.
“As the speculation crackdown intensifies, short-term risks are rising in domestic stock markets,” Yan said. “Risk appetite has waned among investors.”
