China: Stocks rebound but key index posts biggest weekly fall in 5 yrs

[SHANGHAI] China stocks rebounded on Friday, stemming a three-day sell-off that led a key share index to its worst weekly decline in nearly five years amid fears of regulatory crackdown on speculators.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 2.3 per cent, to 4,205.92 points. But for the week, the Shanghai index fell 5.3 per cent, posting its worst performance since July 2010.

The CSI300 index climbed 2.0 per cent, to 4,558.40, but posting a weekly decline of 4 per cent, the biggest in one and a half years.

The poor performance was triggered by signs of tighter regulatory scrutiny over margin lending, which has helped fuel a near doubling in China's stock market over the past year despite a flagging economy.

Data on Friday showed that China's exports unexpectedly fell 6.4 per cent in April from a year earlier, while imports tumbled by a deeper-than-forecast 16.2 per cent.

REUTERS