Chinese stocks fall almost 5% in market bloodbath as investors digest a week of bad news in a single day

REUTERS

A man covers his face as he reads information displayed on an electronic screen at a brokerage house in Shanghai May 17, 2010.

• Chinese stocks plunge, with China A50 index losing more than 4.8% in trading on Monday.
• The falls follow a week's holiday for Chinese markets, meaning investors had an entire five days of news and data to digest in just one session, including an escalation of the trade war between the country and the USA.
• It also followed news over the weekend that People's Bank of China will cut the required reserve ratio for Chinese banks by 1%.
• You can follow global market movements with Markets Insider.

Chinese stocks took a hammering on Monday as traders returned to work after a week away from action following a long holiday in the world's second largest economy.

Losses on major indices in mainland China were as high as 4.8% in a major market rout, with the China A50, which includes major companies from both the Shenzhen and Shanghai, the biggest faller. The Shanghai Composite lost 3.7% of its value, while the Shenzhen Composite was down just over 4% at the close of the day's trading.

The reasons behind the crash are numerous, but are at least in part down to Chinese investors catching up to the rest of their Asian counterparts, after a week of losses in Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea.

The main driver, however, appears to be a failure from markets to believe that fresh stimulus from the People's Bank of China will help prevent a coming economic slowdown in the country, which is likely to be driven by US President Trump's trade war.

"Chinese investors were primarily reacting to a week's worth of news and data, and they have a lot to digest, including the prospect of a slowing and maturing economy and a bubbling trade dispute with the United States," Fiona Cincotta, Senior Market Analyst at City Index said in an email.

"China is moving towards a more mature economic model from the one that has driven its remarkable growth in the last 20 years and experiencing growing pains in the process," she added.

The fall in Chinese equities comes just a few days after US banking JPMorgan cut its outlook from overweight to neutral on the country's stock market as a result of the likely negative impact of the trade war on the country's growth.

"China sectors such as energy, IT and industrials will be most impacted based on our analysis, while sectors such as real estate, insurance, diversified financials, telecom and utilities generate virtually no revenue from the US," a team led by Pedro Martins said in a note.