国内英语新闻：Chinese shares fall at week's end after overnight loss on Wall Street

BEIJING, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese equities tumbled on Friday following a heavy slump overnight on Wall Street as concerns about the U.S. economic slump worsened.

    The Shanghai Composite Index sank 3.29 percent, or 74.97 points, to 2,202.45. The key index has declined more than 58 percent this year and more than 63 percent from its peak in October.

    In Shenzhen, the market fell 2.8 percent, or 209.4 points, to 7,264.2. Aggregate turnover expanded to 42.55 billion yuan (6.22 billion U.S. dollars) from 38.99 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

    Losses outnumbered gains by 827-47 in Shanghai and 702-32 in Shenzhen.

    Wall Street fell on Thursday with the Dow Jones down more than 340 points as disappointing jobless and retail data left investors doubtful of a U.S. economy recovery. The downturn partly contributed to a fall in China equities, analysts said.

    Tracking the Wall Street loss, both the Hong Kong and Tokyo exchanges plunged more than 2 percent on Friday.

A resident walks past an electronic board showing the fall of Hang Sang index in Hong Kong, south China, Sept. 5, 2008. Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index closed at 19,933.28 points Friday, breaching the key psychological supporting mark of 20,000

The key Shanghai index fell through the 2,245 points, which was labeled as a psychological mark by analysts. The mark was the peak of the market's last bullish period that ended in 2001.

    The breach increased market panic and the weak sentiment would remain until the authority could come up with detailed market-boosting measures instead of just vague market talks, a Shanghai Shiji Investment Consultant Company analyst said.

    Continuous retreats in the world crude oil price and other commodities heightened worries that a global slowdown would cut demand and would dent corporate profits, analysts said.

    Crude oil for October delivery dropped 1.46 U.S. dollars overnight to 107.89 U.S. dollars per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, falling for a fifth straight day to a five-month low.

    In response, China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), the country's largest offshore oil explorer, fell 4.24 percent to 13.76 yuan. China Shenhua, the country's top coal producer, shed 3.16 percent to 24.54 yuan and Yanzhou Coal Mining Company lost 4.29 percent to 12.71 yuan.

    Investor confidence was also dampened by news of China Merchants Securities plan to launch an initial public offering (IPO), Guosen Securities senior analyst Tang Xiaosheng said.

    Brokerage shares declined across the board. CITIC Securities sank 3.18 percent to 18.56 yuan, Guojin Securities slumped 7.3 percent to 27.94 yuan, while Hongyuan Securities lost 4.79 percent to 13.92 yuan.

    China Merchants Securities Co. Ltd. said in a prospectus released late on Thursday that it planned to issue 358.55 million A-shares on the Shanghai bourse. The application would be decided by market regulators on Monday.

    If approved, it would become the second domestic brokerage IPO following Everbright Securities after a five-year suspension.