China stocks extend loses

China stocks hit six-week lows by midday Thursday and were set for their third session of losses in a row, even as the country’s trade data for January exceeded market forecasts.

Investors dumped blue chips, including energy and banking firms, as well as property companies, according to Reuters.

At 04:05 GMT, the Shanghai Composite index was down 49.56 points or 1.5 per cent at 3,259.70.

The blue-chip CSI300 index was down 1.14 per cent, with its financial sector sub-index lower by 2.64 per cent, the consumer staples sector up 1.63 per cent, the real estate index down 1.68 per cent and healthcare sub-index up 0.95 per cent.

The largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index were Routon Electronic Co Ltd down 10.02 per cent, followed by Zhonglu Co Ltd losing 10.01 per cent and Zhonglu Co Ltd down by 9.98 per cent.

The top gainers among H-shares were Zhuzhou CRRC Times Electric Co Ltd up 1.63 per cent, followed by China Vanke Co Ltd gaining 1.58 per cent and Byd Co Ltd up by 1.55 per cent.

So far this week, the market capitalisation of the Shanghai stock index has fallen by 4.26 per cent to 29.36 trillion yuan.