China's shares slid Friday as investors dumped coal companies on concern a new tax law will eat away at the industry's earnings, according to AP. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which hit a 16-month low earlier in the week, fell 1.24 percent to 2,669.89 points Friday. The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index closed down 0.56 percent to 807.191. Coal company shares plummeted ahead of an expected announcement this weekend of a government coal tax revenue plan, said Gui Haoming, chief analyst for Shenyin Wanguo Securities in Shanghai. Coal producer China Shenhua Energy Co. fell 8.13 percent, China Coal Resources dropped 7.87 percent, and Xishan Coal and Electric Corp. plunged by 10 percent, the daily limit. China's two big oil refiners also fell, with Sinopec down 3.19 percent and market heavyweight PetroChina, which makes up about one-fifth of the Shanghai index, down 2.24 percent.
