By Dong Zhixin (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-10-25 16:40

The country's major stock index tumbled five percent on Thursday due to panic selling as investors fear further tightening measures after the release of a series of economic figures.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 4.80 percent to close at 5,562.39 points, while the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 5.43 percent to 1,374.12. The CSI 300 index of major companies on the two bourses plunged 4.56 percent to 5,333.31.

An investor monitors stock price movements at a brokerage in Yichang, Hubei Province October 25, 2007. [newsphoto]

The sell-out came after the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said the Gross Domestic Product grew 11.5 percent in the third quarter, on back of rapid expansion in credit and investment.

Inflation eased to 6.2 percent in September from an 11-year-high 6.5 percent in the previous month, but "inflationary pressure is still there," NBS spokesman Li Xiaochao said.

These figures sparked fears for another round of interest rate hikes by the central bank, which has vowed to take a more aggressive approach to prevent the economy from overheating.

So far this year, the central bank has raised interest rates five times and bank reserve ratio eight times.

Also dragging down the market is the start of subscriptions for the initial public offering of PetroChina on the Shanghai exchange. Analysts said some institutions might have gone on a selling spree to buy shares in the oil giant.

The country's biggest oil producer is expected to raise a record-breaking 66.8 billion yuan (US$8.9 billion) in the share sale.

A hike in the bank reserve ratio is the third factor. Earlier this month, the central bank announced a rise of 50 basis points in the bank reserve ratio and the order became effective Thursday, freezing an estimate of 180 billion yuan.

Only 70 of the more than 1,300 A-shares in the two bourse posted increases.

Sinopec, Asia's biggest oil refiner, tumbled 6.69 percent to close at 24.26 yuan per share, while China Shenhua Energy, the country's biggest coal producer, fell 4.37 percent to 77.11 yuan.

In the financial sector, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dropped 4.15 percent to 7.62 yuan, while China Life went down 2.44 percent to 69.22 yuan.

In currency dealings, the central bank set the yuan's central parity rate against the US dollar at 7.4867 on Thursday after breaking the 7.50 mark on Wednesday.

Ye Yaoting, a foreign exchange analyst with the Bank of Communications, believed the yuan will hit the 7.4 marke against the greenback in the next two months, citing the country's widening trade surplus, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

The continuing weakness of the US dollar also contributed to the rise in yuan value, experts say.