China stocks ended flat after a highly volatile session, with major indexes swinging wildly in and out of negative territory following Friday's more than 5 percent slump. The CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen rose 0.3 percent, to 3,566.41, while the Shanghai Composite Index also gained 0.3 percent, to 3,445.40 points.
The indexes had plunged more than 3 percent in early afternoon trading but bargain hunters managed to lift the gauges into positive territory at market close. The wild swings reflect diverging views after the market rebounded over 20 percent from its August lows.
Some analysts said the current correction is natural, and short-lived, while some others expect to see a repeat of the summer market rout if the economy continues to slide while the yuan keeps depreciating. The real estate index has been very strong throughout the day, up 3.6 percent at the close. Analysts said investors were on shifting their focus to a series of initial public offerings due this week which is likely to weigh on sentiment.
"The resumption of IPO will have more influence on the market," said Du Changchun, an analyst at Northeast Securities in Shanghai. "I see the SSEC index moving around 3,500 this week." Shares fell sharply in afternoon trade on Friday after Reuters reported China Haitong Securities is under investigation by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) following similar probes into two other domestic brokers.
The brokerage later confirmed the news, saying in a statement published on the Shanghai stock exchange that it is being probed for possible violation of securities regulations. In an apparent move to ease investor anxiety, Haitong and CITIC Securities , another brokerage being investigated, said in separate statements over the weekend that the probes were related to their margin trading businesses only. Little has emerged as to the specific reasons for the investigations, but some analysts said the regulator could be trying to get a better grip on leveraged trading after a near full-blown market crash a few months ago.