Chinese stock markets closed after shares fall 7%

Shanghai (AFP) – China stock markets closed for the day less than half an hour after opening Thursday when shares fell more than seven percent, triggering an automatic “circuit breaker”, after authorities lowered the yuan’s value by the most since August.

By 9.58am, when trading was halted, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index had slumped 7.32 percent, or 245.95 points, to 3,115.89.

The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China’s second exchange, had tumbled 8.35 percent, or 178.08 points, to 1,955.88.

The falls came amid worries over slowing growth in the world’s second-largest economy and biggest trader in goods, which have roiled investors worldwide, and with pressure on its currency from capital outflows.

On Thursday, authorities lowered the yuan’s central rate against the US dollar by 0.51 percent to 6.5646, the lowest since March 2011 …. http://news.yahoo.com