China's stock market closed Friday with a weekly decline of 8 percent for its biggest drop since May 1997, and investors fear that the market's downward trend will continue into the new trading week. The Shanghai market was down lightly on Friday, compared to the almost 5 percent decline on the previous day. Surprisingly, it was the battered banking sector that kept the losses from being even higher. For the day, the Shanghai Composite Index eased 14.48 points or 0.27 percent to close at 5,315.54. Turnover was 80.76 billion yuan. The financials were mostly higher as the Industrial and Commercial Bank rose 1.09 percent, while Bank of China was up 1.41 percent, China Construction Bank climbed 0.56 percent and China Life, the nation's largest life insurer, increased 1.44 percent. Sinopec, the nation's largest oil refiner, increased 3.87 percent, while PetroChina slipped 0.03 percent. The market gets another weak lead from Wall Street after technology and banking stocks continued to depress on Friday, fueling investors' fears that the credit crisis is far from over. The Dow ended the day below its 200 day moving average, a bearish signal, and fell more than 4 percent on the week. The Dow ended the session at 13,042.74, a loss of 223.55 points, or 1.69 percent. The Nasdaq posted the largest percentage loss, falling 68.06 points, or 2.52 percent, to end the session at 2,627.94. The Nasdaq saw its greatest three day decline since 2002, falling 6 percent. The S&P 500 also posted considerable losses, falling 21.07 points, or 1.43 percent, to finish the day at 1,453.70.
November 11, 2007 7:15 PM
