The China stock market has finished lower now in back-to-back sessions, plummeting almost 270 points or 7.2 percent along the way. The Shanghai Composite Index settled just above the 3,500-point plateau, and the market is in line for more pain again on Thursday.
The global forecast for the Asian markets is fraught with concern over the health of the Chinese stock market, which has plummeted in recent weeks despite a series of market-stabilizing measures by authorities. Uncertainty regarding the Greek debt situation adds to the negative sentiment. The European markets were up and the U.S. bourses were down, and the Asian markets also figure to open in the red.
The SCI finished sharply lower again on Wednesday after falling as much as 8.2 percent early in the session. The sell-off was so bad that more than 1,200 companies halted trading to prevent investors from selling their shares. There are fears that a prolonged slump would cause systematic risk for the country's financial system.
For the day, the index plunged 219.93 points or 5.90 percent to finish at 3,507.19 after trading between 3,421.53 and 3,599.25 on turnover of 700.2 billion yuan. The Shenzhen Composite Index skidded 48.38 points or 2.50 percent to end at 1,884.45 on turnover of 414.2 billion yuan.
The lead from Wall Street is broadly negative as stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on Wednesday after rebounding in the previous session.
The Dow tumbled 261.49 points or 1.5 percent to 17,515.42, while the NASDAQ plunged 87.70 points or 1.8 percent to 4,909.76 and the S&P 500 plummeted 34.65 points or 1.7 percent to 2,046.69.
The sell-off came as Chinese stocks extended their recent steep decline. Almost half of China's roughly 2,800 listed firms announced trading halts as increasing signs of deleveraging drove down stocks across the board. There were fears that a prolonged slump would cause systematic risk for the country's financial system.
Traders also kept an eye on the latest developments regarding the Greek debt crisis after European leaders set Sunday as the final deadline for Greece to reach an agreement on a new bailout.
Some additional negative sentiment was generated by news that the New York Stock Exchange temporarily suspended trading in all symbols due to an internal technical issue.
Closer to home, China will reveal June figures for consumer and producer prices later this morning. Consumer prices are expected to rise 1.3 percent on year after gaining 1.2 percent in May. Producer prices are tipped to hold steady from the previous month, lower by an annual 4.6 percent.
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Market Analysis
May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.