Chinese stocks fall on liquidity stress signs

China stocks ended lower on Wednesday amid signs of slowing economic growth and year-end liquidity tightness, with Shanghai stocks suffering their biggest losses in two weeks.

At the close, the Shanghai Composite Index was down 30.34 points, or 0.92 percent, at 3,275.78 while the blue-chip CSI300 index was down 1.54 percent.

The smaller Shenzhen index ended down 1.00 percent.

The ChiNext Index, which tracks China’s NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, lost 0.77 percent to close at 1,745.24 points.

The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite Index were Yangzhou Yaxing Motor Coach Co up 10.04 percent, followed by Shenyang Jinbei Automotive Co gaining 10.02 percent and Baotailong New Materials Co up by 10 percent.

About 16.27 billion shares were traded on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 105.1 percent of the market’s 30-day moving average of 15.48 billion shares a day.

The volume in the previous trading session was 14.24 billion.

Earnings at China’s industrial firms grew at their slowest paces in seven months in November, official data showed on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, growth in wages and hiring slowed at industrial firms, according to a survey by the China Beige Book International.

Benchmark rates in the banking systems continued to climb in signs of liquidity stress. The one-month Shanghai Interbank Offered Rate (Shibor) climbed to 4.93 percent on Wednesday, the highest level since April 2015.

The 14-day repo rate rose as much as 10 percent, the highest level in four years.