China‘s main stock indexes resumed a downward spiral Tuesday, a day after the blue-chip index posted its biggest gains in nearly three years, as investors remained pessimistic about economic prospects and risks posed by shares pledged for loans.
At the close, the CSI300 index was down 2.66 percent. The Shanghai Composite index lost 2.26 percent.
The CSI300 has lost 7.4 percent this month, and the Shanghai index is down 8 percent.
“There has already been a turnaround in policy and liquidity elements, but the situation of slowing economic growth has not improved, and the Sino-U.S. trade conflict in particular has boosted pessimistic expectations,” Guosheng Securities analysts said in a note.
Coordinated messages of support from senior Chinese officials over the weekend aimed at quelling investor concerns over risks posed by 4.3 trillion yuan ($619.58 billion) worth of shares pledged for loans helped China’s markets to rally on Monday, driving the CSI300 to its strongest day since November 2015.
But on Tuesday, despite more official pledges of support for private firms, enthusiasm had disappeared among both onshore and offshore investors.
“There was a big turnaround last Friday, when the authorities came out to save the market. But ultimately, foreign investors don’t buy this story,” said Steven Leung, Sales Director at UOB Kay Hian.
The day’s losses dragged down sectors across the board. The financial sector sub-index ended 2.19 percent lower, the consumer staples sector fell 5.98 percent, the real estate index lost 2.36 percent and the healthcare sub-index gave up 2.71 percent.
Trading activity was relatively heavy, with 17.83 billion shares changing hands on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 142.8 percent of the market’s 30-day moving average of 12.49 billion shares a day.
The securities sector sub-index, which was up 1.3 percent at the midday break on hopes that market support from regulators would benefit brokerages, also ended the day lower, falling 0.19 percent. It had risen by the 10 percent daily limit on Monday.
The yuan steadied on Tuesday after hitting a more than 21-month low in the previous late night session. At 07:21 GMT, the yuan was trading at 6.9391 per U.S. dollar, 0.08 percent firmer than its close of 6.9444, the weakest such close since Jan. 3, 2017.
Chinese government bond futures rose as the stock market fell. Chinese 10-year Treasury futures for December delivery , the most traded contract, were up 0.22 percent at 95.330.
($1 = 6.9402 Chinese yuan)