Equities slump on liquidity concerns

Chinese shares hit a seven-week low on Thursday amid fears that new listings will drain market liquidity and property concerns will overshadow economic growth.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.55 percent to 2,023.7 points, the biggest one-day drop since April 28, even as the bourse restarted initial public offerings after a four-month hiatus.

Xinjiang Qinsong Cement (Group) Co Ltd, a cement producer, lost 8.06 percent, leading the 3.51 percent drop in the cement industry. Yonyou Software Co Ltd dropped by the daily limit of 10 percent, mirroring the overall weak sentiment for technology shares.

Property developers continued to languish and lost an average of 2.02 percent on Thursday, led by industry leader China Vanke Co, after official data published on Wednesday showed that China's home prices fell for the first time in two years in May.

Guizhou Guochuang Energy Holding Group Co Ltd slumped 4.85 percent after reporting on Wednesday night that it was being investigated by the China Securities Regulatory Commission for potential violation of Chinese security laws. Guochuang is the fourth public company investigated by the commission since March 17.

"The restart of IPOs, combined with tax and dividend payments, has drained liquidity from the market," said Sun Binbin, an analyst with China Merchant Securities.

The CSI 300 Index of the biggest companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen lost 1.5 percent on Thursday, while the ChiNext Index of growth enterprises declined 3.2 percent, the most since March 27.

Zhejiang Shapuaisi Pharmaceutical Co issued shares on Thursday at 21.85 yuan a share, 14.1 times its earnings per share last year. The price-earnings ratio is less than half of the industry average of 33.5 times, underlining the CSRC's effort to cap unreasonably high issue prices.

The rest of the companies that issued shares after the IPO gates reopened include Guangdong Ellington Electronics Technology Co, Wuxi Xuelang Environmental Technology Co Ltd and Shanghai Lianming Machinery Co Ltd.

The latest property data had investors worried that China's economic growth might slow further, dragging the stock market with it, after first-quarter GDP growth decelerated to an 18-month low of 7.4 percent.

Driving school steers toward a Shanghai IPO	Stocks dip, foreign investment slows