Chinese key stock index closed down 2.81 percent on Wednesday, led by financial and property stocks and sparked by a sell-off in Hong Kong and elsewhere amid fears that the US economy may slide into recession.
The Shanghai Composite Index shed 153.185 points to 5,290.606, after hitting a low of 5,288.765, with top Chinese lender Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dropping 2.59 percent to 7.91 yuan. Losers outnumbered gainers by 615 to 245 in Shanghai, turnover in Shanghai A shares swelled to 161.4 billion yuan ($22.3 billion) from Tuesday's 151.0 billion yuan.
"The steep fall in Hong Kong hit mainland stocks, but the Shanghai index seems to have found support around its 60-day moving average, now at 5,282.45 points," said Qian Xiangjing, analyst at CITIC-Kington Securities. "Its future performance will depend on whether the Hong Kong market stays sluggish in the coming weeks."
Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index slumped more than 5 percent in late trade on Wednesday after an overnight tumble in the US stock market. Hong Kong's China Enterprises Index, which tracks shares of mainland-incorporated companies listed in Hong Kong, plunged 5.84 percent.
In a sign that sentiment in the A share market remains healthy, many third liners still performed strongly on Wednesday, when no A shares in Shanghai dropped their 10 percent daily limits.