CHINESE shares plunged more than 6 percent to 13-month low yesterday after oil prices dropped again, reviving concerns about global growth and prompting a sell-off in the world’s equity markets.

    The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended down 6.4 percent after a late selling frenzy at 2,749.79 points, its lowest close since Dec. 1, 2014. The CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen dropped 6 percent to 2,940.51, also its lowest since the beginning of December 2014.

    After a rebound Friday and early Monday, crude oil prices fell back below US$30 a barrel, not far from last week’s 12-year low, ending a couple of days of gains for Wall Street stocks.

    China’s fickle stock markets have now slumped about 22 percent so far this year on concerns about the slowing economy.

    Many investors have lost the stomach for the market after a wild ride since last summer, when shares crashed 40 percent.

    Investors remain wary about further weakness in the yuan, too, despite assurances from the government that it has no intention of pushing it lower to gain a competitive advantage.

    Chinese State media also weighed in yesterday to warn U.S. billionaire investor George Soros against betting on falls in the yuan or the Hong Kong dollar.

    Soros, dubbed “the man who broke the Bank of England” when he made more than US$1 billion from shorting sterling in 1992, has said he is betting against the S&P 500, commodity-producing countries and Asian currencies, though he has not specifically mentioned the yuan or Hong Kong dollar.

    Other stock markets in Asia were also down yesterday, with Japan’s Nikkei dropping 2.4 percent and MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 1.5 percent.

    (SD-Agencies)