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Associated Press

China's shares fall further amid credit worries

Associated Press, 04.27.10, 04:55 AM EDT

BEIJING --

China's shares fell again Tuesday as concerns about possible government plans to tighten credit to cool surging housing prices dragged down real estate and stocks in other industries.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 2.1 percent to 2,907.93, for a decline of more than 8 percent since April 14. The Shenzhen Composite Index for China's smaller second market fell 2.4 percent to 1,168.56.

Concerns about government efforts to cool a housing price boom have hurt makers of building materials and construction-related machinery, said Liu Feng Feng, a strategist for Central China Securities in Shanghai.

"This reflects investors' worry about the impact on possible bursting of the real estate bubble," Liu said. "We may see the market stabilize after recording a heavy loss in the recent trading days."

China's biggest developer, China Vanke Ltd., shed 1.3 percent to 7.70 yuan.

Investor pessimism hurt prices across the board.

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the country's biggest commercial lender, lost 1.6 percent to 4.46 yuan. PetroChina Ltd., Asia's biggest oil and gas producer, declined 2.2 percent to 11.93 yuan. Air China Ltd. lost 2.1 percent to 13.53 yuan.

The country's biggest metals producer, Jiangxi Copper Ltd., fell 2.3 percent to 34.31 yuan. Aluminum Corp. of China, or Chinalco, declined 4.4 percent to 11.64 yuan.

In currency markets, China's yuan strengthened to 6.8253, up from Monday's 6.8267.

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