China’s stocks fell the most in almost two weeks on concern the government will intensify measures to curb real-estate speculation and may raise interest rates to contain inflation.
China Merchants Bank Co. and China Vanke Co. led declines for financial companies and developers after China Business News reported China will announce a new round of property tightening measures. Ningbo Port Co., operator of the world’s second- busiest harbor by total throughput, slid 3.5 percent on its trading debut. Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. jumped by the 10 percent limit after the Xinhua News Agency reported its parent agreed to invest in rare-earth production.
“Banking stocks don’t present a big investment opportunity because the market is still concerned the government will have tight control over credit growth going forward, including possible interest-rate increases,” said Zhao Zifeng, who helps oversee about $10.2 billion at China International Fund Management Co. in Shanghai.
The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks the bigger of China’s stock exchanges, lost 16.61, or 0.6 percent, to 2,611.35 at the 3 p.m. close, the most since Sept. 16. It rose 1.4 percent yesterday, the most in three weeks. The CSI 300 Index dropped 0.8 percent to 2,880.91. The markets will be closed from Oct. 1 to Oct. 7 for National Day.
The Shanghai index has slid 20 percent this year as the government imposed tightening measures ranging from restrictions on multi-house purchases to a 7.5 trillion yuan （$1.1 trillion） annual limit on new lending by banks. The gauge has climbed 10 percent from this year’s low on July 5 on signs the nation’s economic slowdown is stabilizing.
Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., the listed unit of nation’s biggest maker of the lightweight metal and also called Chalco, surged the maximum 10 percent to 10.88 yuan. Parent Aluminum Corporation of China signed an agreement to invest 10 billion yuan to build a rare-earth production base in Jiangxi province, Xinhua reported yesterday.
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