1st LD-Writethru: Chinese shares down Monday on failed Doha oil talks
Xinhua, April 18, 2016 Adjust font size:
China's stocks closed lower on Monday as major oil-producing nations failed to reach an agreement over the weekend on production cuts aimed at easing a global supply glut, stoking fears of further price falls.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index went down 1.44 percent to 3,033.66 points. The smaller Shenzhen index closed 1.53 percent lower at 10,568.93 points.
The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, lost 1.91 percent to close at 2,265.59 points.
Total turnover on the two bourses dropped to 557.1 billion yuan (86 billion U.S. dollars) from 585.4 billion yuan on the previous trading day.
The world's major oil producers, both members and non-members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), failed to deliver a concrete agreement to freeze production to support oil prices on Sunday in Doha.
Oil prices have fallen more than 60 percent since June 2014 to as low as 27 U.S. dollars per barrel in January due to the widening glut in the supply.
The stalemate in oil talks dealt a blow to Chinese oil producers during Monday's trading, with the sub-index for the sector down 2.53 percent. Sinopec lost 2.99 percent to 4.86 yuan per share while PetroChina lost 2.07 percent to 7.59 yuan.
Market sentiment was also beaten down by the prospect of a glut of shares as more IPOs are on the way. Securities Daily reported on Monday that the China Securities Regulatory Commission has given 70 companies the nod to be publicly listed. Endi