Shanghai share index dives more than 8 percent

Market sentiment elsewhere has also been struggling in recent days, with US indices dropping by just over 2% last week and the FTSE 100 also falling back once again.

The Shanghai Composite Index plunged 212.64 points to 3,858.27.

Industrial profits in China fell 0.3% from a year ago, after rising 2.6% and 0.6% in April and May.

Early in the day, Yang Delong, fund manager at ChinaSouthern Asset Management wrote clients: “A rapid, post-routrebound in mainland “A” shares has ended, and the market hasentered a stage of fluctuations, with investor sentiment increasingly unsteady”. He added that with many companies set to release their first-half earnings soon, performance of stocks will diverge depending on their performance.

But today’s fall – the worst seen since February 2007 and second worst in 15 years – marks a return to the price action seen in early July, when the index suffered daily drops of as much as 7.5% amid significant intra-day volatility. Stocks fell across the board, with energy shares and health care firms among the biggest decliners.

Small cap stocks, while still down substantially, outperformed their larger peers.

The Shanghai share index dived more than 8 percent Monday as Chinese shares suffered a renewed sell-off despite government efforts to support the market. Hong Kong) retreated 4.4%, electric vehicle maker BYD (1211. The Hang Seng index dropped 2.8 percent, to 24,422.19 points while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index lost 3.6 percent, to 11,257.15.