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Chinese shares fall 1.76% amid weak sentiment

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-12-24 15:57

Chinese equities were broadly lower in declining turnover on Wednesday, following Tuesday's tumble of 4.55 percent, amid weak market sentiment.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slid 1.76 percent, or 33.43 points, to 1,863.8. The Shenzhen Component Index fell 107.31 points, or 1.54 percent, to 6,845.6.

Combined turnover was 75.6 billion yuan ($11.04 billion), compared with 108.1 billion yuan the previous day. Losses outnumbered gains by 666 to 195 in Shanghai and 611 to 125 in Shenzhen.

Investor confidence remained weak and many were on "stand-by" ahead of the Western market holidays, analysts said.

Energy-related shares such as Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical retreated on concerns about shrinking demand as the world economy weakened.

After the market closed on Tuesday, Sinopec Shanghai issued a downbeat forecast for the fourth quarter and the full year to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The company said product prices were down more than 60 percent because of slackening demand in both the domestic and external markets.

The company's shares fell 5 percent to 5.33 yuan. PetroChina shed 2.2 percent to 10.22 yuan and Sinopec lost 2.04 percent to 7.2 yuan. With the outlook for most commodities worsening, Zijin Mining was down 2.16 percent to 4.54 yuan. Jiangxi Copper Corp. tumbled 5.08 percent to 11.02 yuan.

Airline shares gained, however, buoyed by news that Hainan Airlines got a 500 million yuan capital injection from the Tianjin municipal government. Investors were betting on more government actions to aid the sector, analysts said.

Hainan Airlines rose 3.64 percent to 3.42 yuan. China Eastern Airlines added 9.9 percent to 4.66 yuan. Shanghai Airlines gained almost 7 percent to 5.06 yuan. Air China edged up 0.95 percent to 4.24 yuan.