Shangai - Shanghai stocks reversed
earlier gains to end lower on Monday as lingering worries over
economic growth and tighter regulations to curb speculative
investments hurt risk appetite.
The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.2 percent, to
3,411.24, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.5
percent to 3,075.68 points.
The market has been hobbled over the past few weeks by fears
of renewed economic slowdown and heavy-handed regulation aimed
at limiting broad financial risks.
The official think tank State Information Centre said over
the weekend that China's economy will likely expand around 6.8
percent in the second quarter of 2017, compared with 6.9 percent
in the first quarter. "Overall, China's economy will remain
stable but with a slightly slowing trend," it said.
"When growth is going well, they (the Chinese government)
start to withdraw a little bit of liquidity, start to raise
rates a little bit," said Will Ballard, head of emerging markets
and Asia Pacific equities at Aviva Investors, referring to
Beijing's stepped up campaign to clean up the financial sector.
Read also: China stocks plummet to 1-year low
Over the weekend, China's securities regulator meted out
punishment to brokerage Sealand Securities and mutual fund house
Sinvo Fund Management Co for their lax internal management.
An index tracking major brokerage firms closed
down 1.2 percent at a 14-month low. Property shares also lost ground, after more
cities announced fresh restrictions on home purchases.
For the day, around 30 newly-listed stocks tumbled by the
maximum allowed 10 percent as expectations of more equity supply
pressured their valuations.
China is expected to approve up to 500 IPOs to raise as much
as 300 billion yuan in 2017, according to an official with the
Shanghai Stock Exchange.
(Reporting by Luoyan Liu and John Ruwitch; Editing by
Jacqueline Wong)