Chinese stocks fell Monday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropping 3 percent as investors disappointed by the lack of market boosting policy moves sold banks and other market heavyweights, reported ap. The Shanghai index lost 72.23 points to close at 2,325.14. The Shenzhen Composite Index shed 3.3 percent to 637.51. «Investors are disappointed over the lack of any effective moves by the government to boost the market, so sentiment is still too weak,» said Zhang Jintao, an analyst at Guotai Junan Securities in Shanghai. Airlines, whose operations are sensitive to rises in fuel prices, fell as oil prices rose above US$116 a barrel in Asia on expectations that Hurricane Gustav will damage drilling and refining operations as it approaches the Louisiana coast. China Southern Airlines dropped 5.5 percent to 3.44 yuan; Air China fell 5.3 percent to 5.40 yuan and China Eastern Airlines slipped 6.1 percent to 4.43 yuan. PetroChina fell 3 percent to 12.72 yuan _ its lowest level since the company listed its shares in Shanghai in October 2007 _ while Sinopec, Asia's biggest refiner by capacity, lost 2.5 percent to 9.96 yuan. Banking shares slumped despite recent strong performances in interim earnings reports. ICBC, China's biggest lender, fell 2.8 percent to 4.79 yuan; China Merchants Bank shrank 6.6 percent to 21.56 yuan and China Construction Bank lost 3.7 percent to 5.28 yuan. «It's mainly because of worries over the economy. With expectations of economic growth for the next two years being lowered, it's impossible for the market to rebound much in the short term,» said An Yun, a strategist at Shenyin Wanguo securities in Shanghai Shares in Aluminum Corp. of China, or Chinalco, dropped 3.7 percent to 9.81 yuan after the company reported a two-thirds drop in its first-half net profit. In currency dealings, the U.S. dollar was trading at 6.8249 around 0800 GMT on the over-the-counter market, down from Friday's close of 6.8352.
