China stocks plunge amid regulator crackdown on margins

By Laura He, MarketWatch

Reuters

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Chinese stocks dive Monday morning, even as most other Asian markets trade higher.

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Chinese stocks dived the most in over six years Monday, with a wide sell-off sweeping across the financial sector as investors turned jittery over the latest move by securities regulators to clean up the margin-trading business.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index /zigman2/quotes/210598127/delayed CN:SHCOMP +0.16%   plunged 7.7% to close at 3,116.35, posting its biggest daily percentage decline since June 2008 . Prior to Monday’s heavy loss, the index was up 4.4% for the month to date, extending gains after finishing 2014 with a sharp 53% advance.

The plunge in mainland China helped to push Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index /zigman2/quotes/210598030/delayed HK:HSI +0.73%  down 1.5%, with the Hang Seng China Enterprises — which tracks Hong Kong-listed mainland Chinese companies — off 5%.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission, the nation’s top market watchdog, announced Friday that a dozen brokerage firms had been punished for violations of margin-trading rules after a two-week overhaul. Infractions included allowing customers to delay margin repayments by longer than currently allowed.

The three most severely punished brokers were Citic Securities Co., Haitong Securities Co. and a unit of Guotai Junan International Holdings Ltd., which were all banned from opening new customer accounts for three months.

The A-shares of both Citic Securities /zigman2/quotes/210326178/delayed CN:600030 +0.23%   /zigman2/quotes/208139708/delayed HK:6030 -0.75% , which is owned by financial giant Citic Group, and Haitong Securities /zigman2/quotes/203443667/delayed CN:600837 +1.11%   /zigman2/quotes/207313420/delayed HK:6837 0.00%  were suspended from trading after falling limit-down by 10%.

Other financial stocks, including banks and insurances, were also under heavy selling pressure in Shanghai.

China Citic Bank Corporation Ltd /zigman2/quotes/206411273/delayed CN:601998 -0.69%  , another listed subsidiary of Citic Group, Bank of China Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/209359942/delayed CN:601988 -1.06%   /zigman2/quotes/204682472/delayed HK:3988 +0.37% /zigman2/quotes/201568493/delayed BACHY -1.73% , Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/202525815/delayed CN:601398 -1.06%   /zigman2/quotes/201401473/delayed HK:1398 +0.81%   /zigman2/quotes/204265987/delayed IDCBF -2.53%  and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/204629388/delayed CN:601288 -1.66%   /zigman2/quotes/200705246/delayed HK:1288 +1.05%   /zigman2/quotes/209398792/delayed ACGBF +5.00%  all hit the 10% daily price-drop limit.

Among major insurers, China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/204766889/delayed CN:601628 -0.89%   /zigman2/quotes/202359856/delayed HK:2628 +1.34%   and Ping An Insurance Group Co. /zigman2/quotes/202773380/delayed CN:601318 +0.21%   /zigman2/quotes/210315058/delayed HK:2318 +0.33%   /zigman2/quotes/202212125/delayed PNGAY -2.72%  likewise saw their A-shares suspended after their price falls exceeded the daily limit.

The Chinese financial sector in Hong Kong market didn’t escape the sharp sell-off either. Major underperformers included Haitong Securities (down 16.5%), Citic Securities (down 16.5%), Shenyin Wanguo HK Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/208006958/delayed HK:218 -4.17%   (down 15%), and China Galaxy Securities Co. /zigman2/quotes/206618523/delayed HK:6881 0.00% (down 13.2%).

Also affecting sentiment was a fresh fall in home prices across China’s major cities.

Among the Shanghai-listed shares of top mainland Chinese developers, both Gemdale Corp. /zigman2/quotes/208026094/delayed CN:600383 -0.15%   and Poly Real Estate Group Co. /zigman2/quotes/201864015/delayed CN:600048 -0.47%   gave up 10%.

Among the real-estate names listed in Hong Kong, China Vanke Co. /zigman2/quotes/203851375/delayed HK:2202 +0.24%   retreated 6.3%, China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/205731176/delayed HK:688 +1.02%   /zigman2/quotes/210412581/delayed CAOVF +4.66%   lost 3.5%, and China Resources Land Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/202417326/delayed HK:1109 -0.16%   /zigman2/quotes/201656413/delayed CRBJF -5.46%  dropped 3.1%.

However, other Asian markets were boosted by a rebound in the U.S. stocks at the end of last week. Japan’s Nikkei Average /zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed JP:NIK +0.18%  ended up 0.9%, and the broader Topix tacked on 0.6%.

Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 /zigman2/quotes/210598100/delayed AU:XJO -0.11%  edged up 0.2%, while Seoul’s Kospi Composite Index /zigman2/quotes/210598069/delayed KR:180721 +0.09%   settled 0.8% higher.

/zigman2/quotes/210598127/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:SHCOMP

Shanghai Composite Index

CN : China: Shanghai

3,107.32

+5.04 +0.16%

Volume: 24.05B

Sept. 27, 2023 3:00p

/zigman2/quotes/210598030/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:HSI

Hang Seng Index

HK : Hong Kong Exchange

17,594.61

+127.71 +0.73%

Volume: 1.24M

Sept. 27, 2023 3:33p

/zigman2/quotes/210326178/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:600030

CITIC Securities Co. Ltd. A

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 22.03

+0.05 +0.23%

Volume: 58.37M

Sept. 27, 2023 3:00p

P/E Ratio

15.24

Dividend Yield

2.22%

Market Cap

¥300.61 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥3.49M

/zigman2/quotes/208139708/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:6030

CITIC Securities Co. Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

$ 15.88

-0.12 -0.75%

Volume: 2.94M

Sept. 27, 2023 3:33p

P/E Ratio

9.68

Dividend Yield

3.37%

Market Cap

$321.43 billion

Rev. per Employee

$1.64M

/zigman2/quotes/203443667/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:600837

Haitong Securities Co. Ltd. A

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 10.00

+0.11 +1.11%

Volume: 36.28M

Sept. 27, 2023 3:00p

P/E Ratio

23.26

Dividend Yield

2.10%

Market Cap

¥110.76 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥3.97M

/zigman2/quotes/207313420/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:6837

Haitong Securities Co. Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

$ 4.76

0.00 0.00%

Volume: 2.04M

Sept. 27, 2023 3:33p

P/E Ratio

8.02

Dividend Yield

4.84%

Market Cap

$118.43 billion

Rev. per Employee

$3.65M

/zigman2/quotes/206411273/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601998

China CITIC Bank Corp. Ltd.

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 5.74

-0.04 -0.69%

Volume: 27.75M

Sept. 27, 2023 3:00p

P/E Ratio

5.13

Dividend Yield

5.73%

Market Cap

¥249.39 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥6.16M

/zigman2/quotes/209359942/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601988

Bank of China Ltd.

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 3.74

-0.04 -1.06%

Volume: 154.20M

Sept. 27, 2023 3:00p

P/E Ratio

4.84

Dividend Yield

6.20%

Market Cap

¥1014.34 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥3.39M

/zigman2/quotes/204682472/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:3988

Bank of China Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

$ 2.71

+0.01 +0.37%

Volume: 119.57M

Sept. 27, 2023 3:33p

P/E Ratio

3.11

Dividend Yield

9.30%

Market Cap

$1084.57 billion

Rev. per Employee

$4.15M

/zigman2/quotes/201568493/delayed

Add to watchlist BACHY

Bank of China Ltd. ADR

US : U.S.: OTC

$ 8.54

-0.15 -1.73%

Volume: 56,554

Sept. 26, 2023 3:53p

P/E Ratio

3.07

Dividend Yield

7.89%

Market Cap

$138.75 billion

Rev. per Employee

$529,665

/zigman2/quotes/202525815/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601398

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 4.65

-0.05 -1.06%

Volume: 225.80M

Sept. 27, 2023 3:00p

P/E Ratio

4.57

Dividend Yield

6.53%

Market Cap

¥1579.67 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥3.65M

/zigman2/quotes/201401473/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:1398

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

$ 3.73

+0.03 +0.81%

Volume: 131.69M

Sept. 27, 2023 3:33p

P/E Ratio

3.29

Dividend Yield

8.83%

Market Cap

$1689.04 billion

Rev. per Employee

$4.03M

/zigman2/quotes/204265987/delayed

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Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.

US : U.S.: OTC

$ 0.46

-0.01 -2.53%

Volume: 2.40M

Sept. 26, 2023 9:30a

P/E Ratio

3.13

Dividend Yield

N/A

Market Cap

$216.08 billion

Rev. per Employee

$524,865

/zigman2/quotes/204629388/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601288

Agricultural Bank of China Ltd.

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 3.56

-0.06 -1.66%

Volume: 315.46M

Sept. 27, 2023 3:00p

P/E Ratio

4.81

Dividend Yield

6.24%

Market Cap

¥1239.03 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥2.75M

/zigman2/quotes/200705246/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:1288

Agricultural Bank of China Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

$ 2.88

+0.03 +1.05%

Volume: 62.55M

Sept. 27, 2023 3:33p

P/E Ratio

3.39

Dividend Yield

8.37%

Market Cap

$1324.82 billion

Rev. per Employee

$3.23M

/zigman2/quotes/209398792/delayed

Add to watchlist ACGBF

Agricultural Bank of China Ltd.

US : U.S.: OTC

$ 0.35

+0.02 +5.00%

Volume: 0.00

Sept. 5, 2023 12:32p

P/E Ratio

3.18

Dividend Yield

N/A

Market Cap

$161.93 billion

Rev. per Employee

$408,963

/zigman2/quotes/204766889/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601628

China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. A

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 36.93

-0.33 -0.89%

Volume: 7.43M

Sept. 27, 2023 3:00p

P/E Ratio

30.00

Dividend Yield

1.33%

Market Cap

¥861.21 billion

Rev. per Employee

N/A

/zigman2/quotes/202359856/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:2628

China Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

$ 12.12

+0.16 +1.34%

Volume: 19.66M

Sept. 27, 2023 3:33p

P/E Ratio

8.97

Dividend Yield

4.40%

Market Cap

$920.83 billion

Rev. per Employee

N/A

/zigman2/quotes/202773380/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:601318

Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd. A

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 48.66

+0.10 +0.21%

Volume: 32.49M

Sept. 27, 2023 3:00p

P/E Ratio

8.68

Dividend Yield

4.99%

Market Cap

¥845.68 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥3.26M

/zigman2/quotes/210315058/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:2318

Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

$ 44.95

+0.15 +0.33%

Volume: 16.73M

Sept. 27, 2023 3:33p

P/E Ratio

7.70

Dividend Yield

6.04%

Market Cap

$904.23 billion

Rev. per Employee

$3.53M

/zigman2/quotes/202212125/delayed

Add to watchlist PNGAY

Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd. ADR

US : U.S.: OTC

$ 11.44

-0.32 -2.72%

Volume: 132,822

Sept. 26, 2023 3:59p

P/E Ratio

7.68

Dividend Yield

7.02%

Market Cap

$115.68 billion

Rev. per Employee

$450,408

/zigman2/quotes/208006958/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:0218

Shenwan Hongyuan (H.K.) Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

$ 0.35

-0.02 -4.17%

Volume: 115,000

Sept. 27, 2023 2:35p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

0.00%

Market Cap

$562.01 million

Rev. per Employee

$1.28M

/zigman2/quotes/206618523/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:6881

China Galaxy Securities Co. Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

$ 4.04

0.00 0.00%

Volume: 4.40M

Sept. 27, 2023 3:33p

P/E Ratio

5.01

Dividend Yield

6.07%

Market Cap

$96.49 billion

Rev. per Employee

$2.52M

/zigman2/quotes/208026094/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:600383

Gemdale Corp. A

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 6.82

-0.01 -0.15%

Volume: 48.00M

Sept. 27, 2023 3:00p

P/E Ratio

5.43

Dividend Yield

1.99%

Market Cap

¥31.15 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥2.93M

/zigman2/quotes/201864015/delayed

Add to watchlist CN:600048

Poly Developments & Holdings Group Co. Ltd. A

CN : China: Shanghai

¥ 12.78

-0.06 -0.47%

Volume: 45.38M

Sept. 27, 2023 3:00p

P/E Ratio

7.75

Dividend Yield

3.52%

Market Cap

¥154.42 billion

Rev. per Employee

¥4.38M

/zigman2/quotes/203851375/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:2202

China Vanke Co. Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

$ 8.50

+0.02 +0.24%

Volume: 6.62M

Sept. 27, 2023 3:33p

P/E Ratio

4.38

Dividend Yield

8.69%

Market Cap

$155.60 billion

Rev. per Employee

$4.31M

/zigman2/quotes/205731176/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:0688

China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

$ 15.78

+0.16 +1.02%

Volume: 7.92M

Sept. 27, 2023 3:33p

P/E Ratio

7.65

Dividend Yield

4.75%

Market Cap

$172.49 billion

Rev. per Employee

$43.24M

/zigman2/quotes/210412581/delayed

Add to watchlist CAOVF

China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd.

US : U.S.: OTC

$ 2.02

+0.09 +4.66%

Volume: 19,466

Sept. 22, 2023 11:58a

P/E Ratio

7.67

Dividend Yield

N/A

Market Cap

$22.70 billion

Rev. per Employee

$5.52M

/zigman2/quotes/202417326/delayed

Add to watchlist HK:1109

China Resources Land Ltd.

HK : Hong Kong

$ 30.65

-0.05 -0.16%

Volume: 6.19M

Sept. 27, 2023 3:33p

P/E Ratio

6.22

Dividend Yield

5.25%

Market Cap

$222.84 billion

Rev. per Employee

$4.32M

/zigman2/quotes/201656413/delayed

Add to watchlist CRBJF

China Resources Land Ltd.

US : U.S.: OTC

$ 4.24

-0.25 -5.46%

Volume: 0.00

Aug. 14, 2023 12:12p

P/E Ratio

6.74

Dividend Yield

N/A

Market Cap

$30.37 billion

Rev. per Employee

$550,845

/zigman2/quotes/210597971/delayed

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NIKKEI 225 Index

JP : Nikkei

32,371.90

+56.85 +0.18%

Volume: 0.00

Sept. 27, 2023 3:15p

/zigman2/quotes/210598100/delayed

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S&P/ASX 200 Benchmark Index

AU : S&P ASX

7,030.30

-7.90 -0.11%

Volume: 761,943

Sept. 27, 2023 5:04p

/zigman2/quotes/210598069/delayed

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KOSPI Composite Index

KR : Korea Exchange

2,465.07

+2.10 +0.09%

Volume: 354,973

Sept. 27, 2023 3:30p