China stocks fall nearly 2% on Monday

BEIJING - Chinese stocks extended their losses from last week and plunged nearly 2 percent on Monday as poor economic data and the resumption of initial public offerings (IPO) weighed on the market.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.80 percent, or 37.43 points, to finish at 2,045.71. The Shenzhen Component Index declined 2.61 percent, or 209.87 points, to close at 7,818.46.

The combined turnover of the two bourses shrank slightly to 179.95 billion yuan ($29.47 billion) from 184.25 billion yuan the previous trading day.

During the first two trading days of 2014, the key Shanghai Index fell 0.31 and 1.06 percent respectively.

The HSBC/Markit China services purchasing managers' index (PMI), released on Monday, stood at 50.9 in December, the lowest since August of 2011, notably down from 52.5 in November.

That came after Friday data showed China's non-manufacturing PMI declined to 54.6 percent in December, 2013 from 56 percent in November and 56.3 percent in October.

The recent announcement by China's securities regulator of a resumption in IPOs by approving the listing of five companies on December 31 also caused worries that a share glut would lead to tighter liquidity.

The entertainment and media industry suffered a hard blow on Monday, with the sector's sub-index down 4.01 percent. Huayi Brothers Media Corp lost 4.14 percent to 27.8 yuan per share. Beijing Enlight Media Co Ltd plunged 5.22 percent to 37.21 yuan.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, shed 2.18 percent to close at 1.323.33.

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