China: Stocks close down 2%, shrug off reform plans for SOEs

[SHANGHAI] China stocks closed down on Monday as lingering concerns over the economy eclipsed weekend announcements from Bejing that reforms of bloated state-owned industries would accelerate.

The day saw volumes recover after the prior week's subdued activity, but most of the transactions appeared to be on the sell side. The only bright side appeared to be index-heavyweight banking shares, which traders speculated was largely driven by state-ordered purchases intended to slow the wider market decline.

The CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen ended down 2.0 per cent, to 3,281.13, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 2.7 per cent, to 3,114.80 points, its sharpest one-day drop since late August.

Two key indexes tracking listed SOEs controlled by the central government briefly outperformed the wider market but diverged in late trade, ending down around 2.5% and 1.0%, respectively.

REUTERS