Benchmark slips as shares continue to fall

Shanghai shares continued to fall on Thursday, led by declines in the agriculture and consumer sectors.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged down 0.38 percent to close at 3,312.50 points, while the smaller Shenzhen Component Index lost 0.53 percent to 13,396.18 points.

Trading volume on the two major bourses added up to 663.7 billion yuan (US$99.4 billion), compared with the previous trading day’s 706.2 billion yuan. Turnover on Shanghai's main board was 236.4 billion yuan, a decrease of 10.4 billion yuan over the previous day's 246.8 billion yuan.

A total of 39 listed firms posted gains of more than 9 percent, while 13 declined by over 9 percent.

Yi Gang, governor of the People’s Bank of China, told a financial forum in Beijing that China’s macro leverage ratio would stabilize next year as the economy expands.

Vanho Securities said positive factors such as overall good liquidity and domestic policies are positive for the stock market. However, the COVID-19 pandemic overseas had restrained domestic market sentiment. It suggested investors continue to focus on brokerage, consumer, media and new infrastructure shares.

Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co Ltd lost 5.17 percent to 55.76 yuan while Spring Airlines Co Ltd declined 3.4 percent to 43.53 yuan.