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Shares fall 1.7% amid economic data concerns

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-16 17:15

Chinese shares fell 1.69 percent Wednesday as investors' confidence was further dampened by key economic figures released on the afternoon.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index shed 56.75 points to 3291.60 on Wednesday. The Shenzhen Component Index dropped 333.52 points, or 2.69 percent, lower at 12,057.28.

Both the indices headed down when the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released national figures on economic growth and price level of the first quarter half an hour before the stock market closed.

China's economic growth slowed down 1.1 percentage points to 10.6 percent in the first quarter from the same period last year, while the consumer price index, a measure of inflation, remained at a high level of 8 percent, according to the NBS.

Analysts said the data increased market worries over a slackened economy with high inflationary pressure.

Loser outnumbered winners by 681 to 109 in Shanghai and by 504 to 113 in Shenzhen. Aggregate turnover contracted to 79.2 billion yuan (about $11.3 billion) from 88.7 billion on Tuesday.