US-listed Chinese shares fall as home market teeters

[NEW YORK] US-listed Chinese equities plummeted on Tuesday as Chinese share markets tumbled again and raised worries of broader financial problems in the world's number-two economy.

At mid-day, Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba was the most heavily traded individual stock on the New York Stock Exchange, falling 2.5 per cent, while Internet search company Baidu fell 1.8 per cent.

Small companies suffered significantly bigger drops: Qihoo 360 Technology (-9.0 per cent), social networking platform Renren (-12.6 per cent) and streaming video provider Youku Tudou (-8.6 per cent).

The drops in US-listed Chinese companies come on the heels of a big retreat in Chinese stock markets that have bled an estimated US$3.2 trillion in value since mid-June and spurred talk of a bursting bubble.

In an effort to stem further sell-off, Chinese officials on Sunday ordered a halt to initial public offerings and moved to pour funds into the market.

On Monday, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index finished 2.41 per cent higher helped by the announcement of support, but then fell 1.29 per cent Tuesday.

The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, dropped 5.34 per cent Tuesday, and Hong Kong followed its 3.18 per cent plunge Monday with another 1.03 per cent loss on Tuesday.

Haitong Securities analyst Zhang Qi said it was hard to tell where the bottom is for the Shanghai market.

"With investors' confidence towards the market shattered, it's really hard to tell when it will start to stabilize and recover from recent falls," he told AFP.

Tuesday's declines in Chinese bourses came on a bruising day for US stocks, with anxiety about a potential Greek exit from the eurozone also seen as a major culprit.

AFP