Stocks in Shanghai tumbled again, while the People's Bank of China continued to ramp up its easing efforts
It was another negative finish for Shanghai-listed stocks, despite a late-Tuesday
interest rate cut by the People's Bank of China (PBOC). Reports of a police investigation into alleged insider trading at Citic Securities, along with confirmed probes at four other major firms, sparked selling across the brokerage sector. In both Hong Kong and on the mainland, intraday gains gave way to fresh losses by the close.
Elsewhere in the region, bargain hunters sent major exporters like Panasonic, Nissan, and Kia substantially higher. By the close, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.5%, China's Shanghai Composite lost 1.3%, South Korea's Kospi rallied 2.6%, and Japan's Nikkei jumped 3.2%.
European equity benchmarks are lower across the board at midday, tracking
Wall Street's massive Tuesday reversal. With no major eurozone economic reports to consider, lingering China anxiety remains at the forefront -- and the PBOC's announcement today of a new, 140 billion yuan liquidity injection hasn't done much to boost sentiment. At last check, the German DAX is down 0.8%, the French CAC 40 has shed 0.7%, and London's FTSE 100 is 0.5% lower.
