China's stock market fell on Wednesday as worries about an economic slowdown hit industrial shares hard, but municipal government efforts to aid the real estate market boosted property shares. The Shanghai Composite Index ended down 1.12 percent at 1,994.667 points, off a low of 1,963.103.
Turnover in Shanghai A shares shrank to 29.5 billion yuan ($4.3 billion) from 53.2 billion yuan on Tuesday, with losing Shanghai A shares outnumbering gainers by 547 to 342. Oil refiner Sinopec sank 6.48 percent to 9.09 yuan, while Jiangxi Copper slid 5.93 percent to 11.60 yuan and Wuhan Steel lost 1.86 percent to 5.28 yuan.
"Industrial shares were hit hard today, showing the underlying concern about the slowdown of the economy. The shadow is spreading from the financial industry to manufacturing and other sectors," said Zhou Lin, analyst at Huatai Securities. Most banks were higher, partly because of expectations that a government fund would continue moderate purchases of shares in top banks in a market rescue effort announced by authorities last month.
However Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, the biggest bank, fell 0.72 percent to 4.13 yuan. Property shares rose after Shanghai and Hangzhou joined the ranks of Chinese cities introducing financial and regulatory measures to aid their slumping residential real estate markets. Vanke rose 3.39 percent to 6.71 yuan. Two major dairy firms pulled back sharply after surging their 10 percent daily limits on Tuesday.
Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group lost 6.69 percent to 7.39 yuan and Bright Dairy Group sank 5.72 percent to 4.12 yuan. The companies, implicated in China's scandal over chemically contaminated milk products, estimated on Tuesday that they would post third-quarter net losses. Yutong Bus lost 2.36 percent to 11.16 yuan.
It estimated net profit rose at least 100 percent in the first nine months of this year, but that would mark a slowdown from the first half, when profit jumped 260 percent. Zhejiang Quartz Crystal Optoelectronic Technology climbed 6.29 percent to 16.91 yuan, rising for the first time since its September 19 listing day.