Shares fall 3.8%, on worries about economy

The mainland stocks slid 3.76 percent yesterday in their biggest daily percentage drop in more than one month, as worries about first-quarter earnings and a possible slowdown in loan growth from the first quarter's heated pace encouraged profit-taking.

The Shanghai Composite Index ended at a two-week closing low of 2347.385 points.

Turnover in Shanghai A shares was active at 135.3 billion yuan, up from Tuesday's three-week low of 116.4 billion yuan.

The official Securities Times reported that roughly 70 percent of 44 domestically listed companies that have issued earnings estimates for the first quarter said they expected losses or steep declines from a year earlier. Chinese listed firms began to release first-quarter earnings yesterday.

"Investors are not very confident about first-quarter earnings, and this encouraged profit-taking," said Huatai Securities analyst Chen Huiqin.

She added that investors were also cautious ahead of next week's scheduled release of economic data for the first quarter.

The benchmark index has gained 13 percent since the beginning of March, partly fuelled by ample liquidity in the market.

"The index might shift into a consolidation phase after rising so much, and it seems to lack strong enough sentiment at the moment to crack through resistance," said Zheshang Securities analyst Zhang Yanbing.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China sank 3.41 percent to 3.97 yuan while CITIC Securities lost 4.89 percent to 24.11 yuan.

Non-ferrous metal and coal shares were hit by profit-taking, with Jiangxi Copper sliding 5.7 percent to 22.83 yuan. Coal industry leader China Shenhua Energy dropped 5.42 percent to 21.83 yuan.