China stocks end lower on souring global sentiment, soft loan growth

Chinese shares fell for a second straight session on Wednesday after global market sentiment soured on the prospect of a swift U.S. stimulus boost and as domestic data showed softer growth in bank lending. ** The Shanghai Composite index closed down 0.6% at 3,319.27.

Chinese shares fell for a second straight session on Wednesday after global market sentiment soured on the prospect of a swift U.S. stimulus boost and as domestic data showed softer growth in bank lending.

** The Shanghai Composite index closed down 0.6% at 3,319.27. The blue-chip CSI300 index fell 0.7%. ** The smaller Shenzhen index lost 1.3%, the start-up board ChiNext Composite index fell almost 2% and Shanghai's tech-focused STAR50 index dropped 2.2%​. ** The Chinese market tracked Asian peers and pulled back in early trade on uncertainties around the U.S. stimulus package. The regional sell-off ran out of steam in late session, helping Chinese shares limit their losses.

** "We have seen profit-taking across the board, with a huge pull-back in tech stocks worldwide. That is affecting sentiment here," said Alex Wong, director at Ample Finance Group. "There has been a good run and people are willing to take some profit off the table." ** Chinese banks extended 992.7 billion yuan ($142.82 billion) in new yuan loans in July, down sharply from 1.81 trillion yuan in June and falling short of analysts' expectations, data from People's Bank of China (PBOC) on Tuesday showed.

** Broad credit and liquidity growth quickened slightly. A stronger-than-expected rebound in activity in the second quarter has reduced the urgency for the PBOC to ease policy further, Reuters previously learnt. ** Recent lending numbers "show the recent policy direction remains steady, limiting expectations of further loosening," Dongguan Securities' analysts wrote in a note.

** The yuan was 0.05% weaker at 6.9501 per U.S. dollar at 0716 GMT. ** The Shanghai stock index is up 8.8% this year and the CSI300 has risen 13.5%. Shanghai stocks are up 0.3% this month. ** About 37.83 billion shares were traded on the Shanghai exchange, less than the previous session's 40.05 billion.

 

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