U.K. Stocks Rebound With Miners After 2-Day Selloff; Tesco Rises

The markets closed as the key Shanghai Composite Index fell 7.3 percent to 3,115.89, and the Shenzhen Composite Index for China’s smaller second exchange slumped 8.3 percent, to 1,955.88.

(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko). A man looks at an electronic stock board of a securities firm in Tokyo, Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016.

Panic selling in Asia prompted by developments in China spread across the globe and threw the Toronto stock market into a tailspin Thursday, capping off seven consecutive days of losses and thrusting the index into bear market territory.

(AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein). Chinese investors monitor stock prices in a brokerage house in Beijing, Friday, Jan. 8, 2016.

China’s stock markets have lost 7.4 trillion yuan ($1.1 trillion) in the first four days of this year.

People walk along a pedestrian bridge with a screen showing Chinese stock prices crashing, Shanghai, January 7, 2016.

“Trading halts can actually exacerbate downside moves as would-be buyers are unable to come in and buy beaten-up stock”.

China on Thursday suspended the stock market “circuit breaker” mechanism which has halted trading in Chinese stock markets for the second time this week, triggering a cascading impact on the global markets as the country saw the shortest trading time in the Communist giant’s market history.

The Shanghai Composite Index was up 2.4% at 3,199.56 by late morning after swinging between gains and losses.

CONTAINER STORE STUMBLE: The Container Store reported a surprise third-quarter loss and disappointing sales, and its stock plunged $2.98, or 41.5 percent, to $4.20.

Late Thursday, Beijing suspended use of that “circuit breaker” after economists warned it was adding to volatility by encouraging investors to sell faster when the market falls. The 19-nation currency jumped 1.4% to $1.0928 (nearly Rs 72.81) and rose 0.6% to 128.58 yen (nearly Rs 71.96).

China’s market also rose.

The dollar rose on Friday on steps taken by China to ease this week’s market turbulence and on U.S.jobs gains in December, but the rise was limited by worries over whether Beijing has done enough to calm its battered stock market.

Oil prices touched their lowest in more than a decade.

Aerospace giant Boeing fell $5.82, or 4.2 percent, to $133.01, and freight railroad Union Pacific felt $1.75, or 2.3 percent, to $73.08. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares declined 0.7 percent while Germany’s DAX lost 1.3 percent. “All that matters for markets right now is ‘China can’t get their act straight'”.

European stocks also rose early in the day, but couldn’t hang on.

The euro, up to Dollars 1.0843, won a boost also as official data showed that eurozone unemployment dropped to its lowest level in four years in November.

On the commodity markets, the February gold contract fell $5.90 to US$1,101.90 an ounce and the February crude contract was up two cents at US$33.29 per barrel.