Chinese stocks were obliterated to start the new trading year, falling sharply in the wake of adisappointing manufacturing PMI report for December and further weakening in the Chinese yuan.
After tumbling 5% earlier in the session, triggering circuit breakers that halted trade in stocks for 15 minutes, stocks continued to slide upon the resumption of trade, eventually falling by 7%, freezing markets until the close of trade.
CSI 300 Jan 4 2016Via Business Insider Australia
It was the first session that the new circuit breaker rules were implemented by the Shanghai Stock Exchange, replacing previous limits that prevented markets from rising or falling by a maximum of 10% in one session.
While it may only be a small consolation, at least markets know the circuit breakers work.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite index closed the shortened session down 6.85% while the broader CSI 300 index, encompassing the largest listed firms by market capitalisation in Shanghai and Shenzhen, slid by 6.98%, triggering the market halt.
The small cap CSI 500 index fared even worse, finishing the day down 8.27%.
The decline in Chinese markets was the largest in percentage terms since August 2015, the height of the stock market rout that saw mainland indices near-halve in just two months.
The weakness in Chinese stocks, along with the yuan, contributed to a sharp decline in stocks and higher-yielding currencies across the broader Asian region.
Here’s the Asia scorecard as at 5.10pm AEDT.
Stocks
  • ASX 200 5270.50 , -25.36 , -0.48%
  • Nikkei 225 18450.98 , -582.73 , -3.06%
  • Shanghai Composite 3296.66 , -242.52 , -6.85%
  • Hang Seng 21309.95 , -604.45 , -2.76%
  • KOSPI 1918.76 , -42.55 , -2.17%
  • Straits Times 2836.68 , -46.05 , -1.60%
  • S&P 500 Futures 2020.75 , -14.75 , -0.72%
Forex
  • USD/JPY 119.35 , -0.95 , -0.79%
  • USD/CNY 6.5096 , 0.0175 , 0.27%
  • AUD/USD 0.7212 , -0.0084 , -1.15%
  • NZD/USD 0.6754 , -0.0092 , -1.34%
  • AUD/JPY 86.08 , -1.67 , -1.90%
  • EUR/USD 1.0897 , 0.0039 , 0.36%
  • GBP/USD 1.4738 , -0.0005 , -0.03%
  • USD INDEX 98.399 , -0.2320 , -0.24%
Commodities
  • Gold $1,068.40 , $8.16 , 0.77%
  • Silver $13.92 , $0.13 , 0.94%
  • WTI Futures $37.77 , $0.73 , 1.97%
  • Copper Futures ¥36,280 , -¥460 -1.25%
  • Iron Ore Futures ¥324.50 , ¥0.00 , 0.00%
10-Year Bond Yields
  • Australia 2.820%
  • New Zealand 3.595%
  • Japan 0.255%
  • Germany 0.611%
  • UK 1.963%
  • US 2.241%
Read the original article on Business Insider Australia. Copyright 2016.

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