Chinese stocks continued their downward trend of the last trading session to dive 2.59 percent on Monday, as investors jittered over a slump on Wall Street.
The Shanghai Composite Index on the Shanghai Stock Exchange closed at 5,667.33 points, down 2.59 percent or 150.72 points.
The Shenzhen Component Index on the smaller market closed at 18,379.41 points, down 2.42 percent.
It was the fourth straight daily fall since last Wednesday, when the index dipped 0.92 percent from Tuesday''s record high of 6,092.06. The stocks tumbled 3.5 percent on Thursday and went down further 0.12 percent on Friday.
Heavyweight shares, such as banking and energy, led losses.
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country''s largest commercial lender, fell 2.1 percent to 7.45 yuan and the Bank of China, the second largest, plummeted 3.12 percent to 6.53 yuan.
Both Sinopec and the newly-listed China Shenhua slipped around 5 percent to 23.61 yuan and 79.25 yuan, respectively, as investors are prepared for subscriptions in PetroChina, which is due to get listed on Shanghai bourse on November 5.
The oil giant said on Sunday that it would start preliminary price inquiry for its initial public offering from October 22 to 24 to set its IPO price range.
The mainland market could see the biggest correction in the fourth quarter, said Zhan Lingwei, a fund manager with Changsheng Fund Management Co in Beijing, adding new highs of the index is still likely despite the corrections.
China Pingan, one of China''s major insurers, remained intact, rising 2.99 percent to 138.93 yuan and the Bank of Communications went up 3.79 percent to 15.07 yuan.
In New York Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average sank 366.94 points amid worries over renewed credit concerns, slower corporate earnings, the weak dollar and record-high oil prices.-China Daily