The changes only affect contracts linked to China and Hong Kong traded securities. Among the changes, the margin on one lot of Hang Seng index futures increased 20.6 per cent from HK$101,000 to HK$121,900 and the margin on the H-share China Enterprises index rose 30 per cent from HK$ 57,750 to HK$ 75,050. The spread rates were also increased.

HKFE did not explain why it was it was requesting additional capital from traders though it may be to cushion risk should markets continue to shift violently causing losses to traders. 

1:05pm: Shanghai Composite Index up 2.68 per cent to 3,601.32. CSI300 rose 3.74 per cent to 3,800.05.

1:05pm: Shenzhen Composite Index jumped 3.4 per cent to 1,948.57 . ChiNext board added 3.01 per cent to 2,435.10.

12:35pm: Turnover of northbound trading under the stock connect scheme totalled 5.2 billion yuan in the morning, as Hong Kong investors bought 1.7 billion yuan worth of shares and sold 3.5 billion yuan of shares in the A-share market.

For the southbound track, the turnover totaled at 3.4 billion yuan in the morning, as mainland investors bought 2.2 billion yuan of shares and sold 1.2 billion yuan worth of stocks in Hong Kong market.

12:29pm: Credit Suisse research analyst Vincent Chan said there is no crystal ball on when the market sell-off will end despite all the measures rolled out by Beijing.

Yet he highlighted potential buy opportunities for a batch of stocks that have dropped to their lowest levels from the end of March in Hong Kong or the mainland, including CR Gas, Midea, Haier Electrics, China Mobile, China Telecom, Geely, BYD, ICBC, Wuliangye, Kweichow Moutai, AIA Group, PICC P&C, YH Superstores, Bloomage, and Goldwind among others.  

12:26pm: Citic Securities is leading the recovery of the China brokerages, gaining 21 per cent to HK$23.15 with turnover of HK$1.76 billion, although it still has not wiped off all of its losses since Monday. 

This morning Citic announced plans for H share buy-ups by major shareholders, senior management and employees. It is targeting HK$1 billion in purchases by staff from their own funds.

12:18pm: China’s central bank on Thursday rolls out its 7-day repurchase programme with a trading volume of up to 35 billion yuan (HK$43.7 billion), China Securities Journal website reported.    

12:10pm: Hang Seng Index finished up 3.43 per cent to close midday at 24,322.23. The H-shares index jumped 3.58 per cent to 1,1504.64.

12:07pm: Property developer China Vanke has gained 6.23 per cent to HK$18.08 in Hong Kong, perhaps benefiting from today's news that it beat out rivals to win a large residential site in Tuen Mun with a HK$3.8 billion bid. It has also improved 3.77 per cent in Shenzhen.

12:02pm: China’s central bank is under pressure to cut banks’ reserve requirement ratio by another 50 basis points to revive the economy, as the nation’s inflation momentum remains abated and overcapacity remains a serious problem, said ANZ in response to fresh data released this morning.

China’s Consumer Price Index increased 1.4 per cent from a year earlier in June, while Producer Price Index fell 4.8 per cent year-on-year during the period, according to data from China Statistics bureau on Thursday. 

11:42am: Bank of Communications is bringing up the rear of the Hang Seng Index as well as being the only negatively weighted stock on the China H-Financials Index. It currently sits at HK$7.31, down 3.8 per cent from Wednesday. 

Sentiment continues to be ambivalent on other China banks which are clinging on to small gains. ICBC is best placed at HK$5.57, 1.27 per cent up.

11:40am: Senior management and controlling shareholders from 333 A-share listed companies said they have increased or they will increase their holdings of stocks in the secondary market in their companies in a move to prevent freefall of their share prices, China Securities Journal reported on Thursday.

That brings the total number of companies that obtained stake increase from its own management to 624, accounting for more than 20 per cent of companies listed in the mainland market. 

11:38am: China’s Asset Management Association announced Thursday it would provide administrative support to the big shareholders and senior management of listed companies if they purchased more shares through private equity firms, official Xinhua news agency reports.

11:35am: Hang Seng Index rose 3.37 per cent, or 793.09 points to 24309.65. H-share Index up 3.53 per cent or 391.54 points to 11498.84. Hong Kong market ends morning session at noon. 

11:33am: Shanghai Composite Index up 1.30 per cent to end morning session at 3,552.78. CSI300 rose 2.43 per cent to settle at 3,749.88.

11:33am: Shenzhen Composite Index jumped 2.93 per cent to finish morning at 1,939.64 . ChiNext board added 2.76 per cent to 2,429.26.

11:27am: China’s insurance regulator said insurance asset management firms were not allowed to force brokerage firms to prepay credit assignments derived from securities margin trading businesses, according to an announcement on the China Insurance Regulatory Commission website.

11:20am: China’s police will investigate clues pointing to potentially "malicious" short-selling of Chinese shares, state news agency Xinhua says on Thursday. The investigation will allow authorities to "punch back" against unspecified illegal activities, Reuters reports Xinhua saying on its official microblog, citing unidentified sources.

11:18am: Latest advice to investors from UBS: “Although we see long-term investment value emerging for high-quality stocks, we continue to expect significant volatility over the next few days in the H-share market… We continue to advocate that investors avoid H share Chinese brokers as the sector is facing both short-term and long-term challenges. H share Chinese brokers' earnings are likely to suffer in the short term as losses could start to emerge for their margin financing and trading businesses.” 

11:17am: Shanghai Composite Index up 0.12 per cent to 3,511.54. CSI300 rose 1.06 per cent to 3,701.92. 

11:10am: Shenzhen Composite Index up 2.39 per cent to 1,929.44. ChiNext rose 2.36 per cent to 2,419.76. 

11:08am: Hang Seng Index up 697.39 points or 2.97 per cent to 24,213.95. H-shares Index rose 281.56, or 2.53 per cent to 11,388.86.

10:58am: The HKEx top 20 shows a range of stocks trading in low volume with share price jumps of between 42 and 92 per cent.

“It’s a dead cat rebound, attributable to the oversold situation,” says Ben Kwong, executive director of KGI Asia. “We could expect today we’d have a rebound because we had such massive, extensive forced selling yesterday when people couldn’t make their margin calls.”

10:47am: Hang Seng Index rose 2.47 per cent, or 580.17 points to 24,096.73. H-shares Index rose 2.07 per cent, or 230.21 to 11,337.51. 

10:45am: Shenzhen Composite Index up 1.9 per cent to 1,920.22. ChiNext rose 1.83 per cent to 2,407.30. 

10:43am: Lenovo Group is on a charge, up 10.2 per cent to HK$9.82, its highest point since last week.

10:43am: Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing has also rebounded from earlier in the week, gaining 8.46 per cent to $220.60, very close to the $220 targeted by Goldman Sachs on Monday.

10:41am: Shanghai Composite Index up 0.57 per cent to 3,527.18

10:41am: CSI300 goes up 1.43 per cent to 3,715.35. 

10:40am: Here’s a chart from analysts at Jefferies in Hong Kong that helps explain the drama of the mainland stock rout – the ramp up in margin finance has plainly peaked and is diving lower.

10:27am: China’s deputy police chief visited the CSRC on Thursday with his team to investigative what they called “malicious short-selling,” official Xinhua news agency reports.

10:26am: Red chips in the green: the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index is up almost 4 per cent or 427 points.

Banks including BOC, CCB, ABC and ICBC are wavering around the plus or minus 1 per cent mark, but other financials are showing stronger gains. Citic Securities up 7.33 per cent, China Life up 5.02 per cent, Ping An up 3.27 per cent.

10:24am: Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index reverses course, rises 751.01 points or 3.19 per cent to 24,267.57.

10:24am: H-shares Index in Hong Kong jumps 440.77 points, or 3.97 per cent to 11,548.07.

10:22am: Tencent is performing well on the Hong Kong exchange, topping HK$1.3 billion in turnover and up 3.5 per cent to $139.50. Lenovo is also rallying, up 5.5 per cent, and China Mobile is up 1.61 per cent. But swings are happening quickly.

10:15am: Jefferies Morning Call. “Efforts to stem the liquidation of China A shares to meet margin calls is unlikely to arrest the decline in prices in the short term. Ironically, the suspension of hundreds of company shares is forcing investors to liquidate other companies including HK (Hong Kong) blue chips to meet cash calls. 

Foreign investors have also been caught in the liquidation headlights with VAR (value at risk) models ringing and panicking redemptions forcing them to sell quality stocks through the region.” 

10:00am: Kai Yuan and King Fook are paying for their trading suspensions with interest. They are currently the top losers on the Hong Kong exchange, down 36.7 per cent and 29.7 per cent respectively. Haitong Securities is also feeling the heat, down 13.2 per cent.

9:58am:China’s bank regulator has allowed banking institutions to set up a “reasonable” repayment date for stock collateral loans that are due.

It has also encouraged banks to adjust their risk alert levels on securities investment with their asset management clients, according to an announcement posted on the CBRC website on Thursday.

9:57am: Shanghai Composite Index opens at 3391.03, down 116.16 or 3.31 per cent  

9:50am: H-shares Index opens at 10988.71, down 118.59 points or 1.07 per cent.

9:50am: CSI300 down to 3587.66, down 75.38 points or 2 per cent. 

9:48am:Shenzhen Composite Index at 1864.68, down 19.76 points or 1.05 per cent

9:48am:ChiNext Index at 2,351.95, down 12.09 points or 0.5 per cent 

9:44am:“We now had better fold our arms in front of our chests and see what will happen next,” a veteran retail investor, surnamed Wong, said.

9:37am:China Securities Regulatory Commission spokesman Deng Ge confirmed in an official statement Thursday that China Securities Finance Corp will provide capital to mutual funds in a bid to enhance market liquidity, following a decision by CSRC on Wednesday.

CSFC will operate through subscribing mutual funds, said Deng, adding that the measure would help “stable operation” of mutual funds, as well as be conducive to institutional investors’ role in stabilizing the capital market.

9:33am: Hong Kong's Hang Seng index down 0.26 per cent as China inspired slide extends.

9:27am:Shanghai Composite Index tender period at 3505.01 down 0.06 per cent or 2.18 points

9:25am: A raft of China finance stocks including Bank of China, Agricultural Bank, ICBC, China Everbright, Citic, PICC and Cinda Asset Management have promised since yesterday that their controlling and major shareholders will not sell H-shares; instead, they will buy when conditions are right. Many of these institutions are backed by the Ministry of Finance or Central Huijin Investment. 

Six more listed companies were suspended from trading on the Hong Kong exchange this morning, although several will re-enter the fray, including Sinopec, Haitong Securities, Kai Yuan and King Fook. Meanwhile, Miko International, King Stone Energy and Greenheart Group all cancelled share issues citing adverse market conditions.

9:24am: China’s securities regulator has approved on Wednesday for the China Securities Finance Corporation to purchase public offering funds to inject more liquidity to fund management firms and “restore investors’ confidence,” CSRC spokesperson Deng Ge said, according to the latest update of the CSRC’s official Weibo account.

9:21am: Hang Seng Index futures July contract tender period opens up 0.55 per cent, or 128 points at 23,304.

9:20am: People’s Bank of China has provided further credit to China Securities Finance Corporation and approved the corporations’ issuance of financial debentures, including short-term financing bonds on the inter-bank bond markets, the official Xinhua news agency reports. 

9.15am: ING Asia Morning Call: “Futures are indicating a 4.5 per cent rise at the open. We think the question is whether the authorities manage to halt the market panic before it burns itself out, something we think would be associated with a CSI300 Index level of around 2,000 (latest 3,663). Nothing they’ve done so far has worked.

At this point we think a bazooka is needed; the standard 25 basis point policy rate cut or 50bps RRR cut won’t suffice. We think a 4 trillion yuan (about $650 billion) package, roughly equivalent to outstanding margin debt assuming shadow margin debt is equal to official debt (1.6 trillion yuan as of Tuesday) would work.”

9.10am: Chinese brokerage Haitong Securities Co Ltd will buy back shares worth up to 21.6 billion yuan ($3.48 billion) in a bid to prop up its share price amid a steep market plunge that is starting to roil global financial markets, Reuters reports.

The brokerage, which saw its Shanghai-listed shares fall the maximum 10 percent on Wednesday, plans to buy back no more than 1.15 billion A shares or H shares. It will pay up to 18.80 yuan per A share and up to HK$17.18 per H share.

9.00am: Societe Generale Morning Call: “While the Chinese government continues to battle with the falling stock market, we are concerned that asking big financial institutions to catch the falling knife is not helping lower systematic risk.

“The Chinese government will likely ramp up more resources to support the stock market in the coming days, but the side effect seems to be growing at the same time. We think that the policy focus should be on the real economy and the general liquidity level in the overall financial system.”

8.45am: Simon Derrick, chief markets strategist at BNY Mellon, reckons the dynamics of a classic stock market crash are at work in China. “What’s noticeable to me is how the performance of the Shanghai Composite has tracked so closely to the Dow in ‘29, and ‘87 along with NASDAQ in 2000,” Derrick said. Here’s the chart he’s talking about:

8.40am: Investors across Asia extend safe haven trades on Thursday as they remain nervous about the risk of fallout from a violent mainland stock market rout that shows no sign of stopping despite repeated efforts by Beijing to calm panicky traders. Stocks open down in Tokyo, Seoul and Sydney, dragging the MSCI Asia Pacific Index to a five-month low.