Investors, firms punished for flouting stock market rules

China's securities regulator will inflict hefty fines on investors and firms involved in six cases of illegal stock market activities.

The illegal activities include one market-manipulation case, two insider trading cases and three cases of fabricating and spreading false information, China Securities Regulatory Commission said at a press conference on Friday.

In one case, Chongqing Yunjin Advertisement Media Company fabricated a story alleging China's top two telecom giants, China Telecom and China Unicom, had merged and spread the rumor through social media, leading to abnormal trading of several shares.

Since China's stock market rout last summer, authorities have intensified efforts to regulate illegal practices, and announcing punishments for offenders has become a routine part of the regulator's weekly press conference.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 2.82 percent to finish at 2,913.25 points on Friday, and the smaller Shenzhen index tumbled 3.57 percent to close at 10,100.53 points. Endi