Investors heave a sigh of relief as China markets shut down

Sydney

BRUCE Yu needs a time out. Like investors around the world, the Franklin Templeton SinoAm money manager has struggled to keep up with escalating volatility in Chinese markets - swings that increasingly set the tone for trading in everything from commodities to US stocks and the Japanese yen.

Luckily for him, China is shutting down its exchanges and banks until Monday to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Japan's World War II defeat. The holiday gives global investors four days without any price swings or scheduled data releases from the world's second-largest economy.