Chinese shares fell on Thursday on profit-taking following strong gains this week, with steel counters hit by a Chinese official's grim assessment of the industry's prospects for the year.
The benchmark Shanghai composite index fell 1.6 percent to close at 1,285.666 points after hitting a one-year high on Wednesday.
Steel counters fell after China's top economic planner warned that the country's steel industry might post losses this year due to excess capacity and hefty production costs.
Top Chinese steel mill Baoshan Iron and Steel Co Ltd dropped 3.23 percent to 4.20 yuan while smaller rival Wuhan Iron and Steel Co Ltd shed 2.43 percent to 2.81 yuan.
Banking counters also declined following strong gains earlier in the week. China Merchants Bank, the most actively traded stock of the day, fell 3.8 percent to 6.37 yuan while Minsheng Banking Corp slipped 3.04 percent to 5.10 yuan.
Comments
Comments are closed.