Chinese equity markets closed lower by midsession on Tuesday after another round of poor manufacturing data spooked investors and suggested key parts of the economy are still struggling for growth.
Major indices all dived in early trading before recovering in a steep V shaped session that left the Shanghai Composite Index down 1.06 per cent, 33.96 points, at 3,172.03 and the CSI300 index of Shanghai-Shenzhen large cap stocks at 3,324.83, down 1.24 per cent or 41.17 points.
The Shenzhen Composite closed the morning session at 1,739.34, down 2.85 per cent, or 50.97 points and the NASDAQ-style ChiNext Price Index slid 2.75 per cent, or 54.96 points to trade at 1,941.9.
In Hong Kong, local stocks replicated the mainland’s volatile trading pattern with the Hang Seng Index closing down 0.47 per cent, 101.44 points, at 21,569.14 and the H-share Index finishing 1.25 per cent lower, 121.35 points, at 9,620.06 with mainland banks among the biggest blue chip fallers.
A key indicator of manufacturing sector output, the final Caixin/Markit manufacturing purchasing manger’s index, slipped to 47.3, the lowest reading since 2009, from 47.8 in July.
A separate purchasing managers index put out by the Chinese government sank into contraction territory at 49.7 for August, from 50 for July, the lowest level since 2012.
