Beijing, Jan 26 (IANS) Chinese shares retreated from a two-day rally to fall below the 2,800 mark on Tuesday, hitting its lowest since December 2014.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index plunged 6.42 percent to close at 2,749.79 points, while Shenzhen declined by 6.96 percent to close at 9,483.55 points, Xinhua reported.
The ChiNext Index, the NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, dived 7.63 percent to close at 1,994.05 points.
Total turnover on the two bourses increased, standing at 523.08 billion yuan ($79.8 billion).
Losers outnumbered gainers by 979 to 22 in Shanghai and 1,526 to 32 in Shenzhen.
Altogether, nearly 1,000 stocks on the two bourses lost by the daily limit of 10 percent.
The Shanghai index opened lower and remained firmly in negative territory during the morning session, before dropping 3 percent shortly after the midday break.
It further plunged to a rock-bottom price of 2,749.79 yuan, 6.42 percent lower.
The ChiNext Index, the NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, was the most battered, which dived over three percent before the midday break and steeply plunged towards 2,000-mark points during the afternoon session.
Losses swept across all sectors, with the sub-index related to textiles, furniture and aviation suffering the most on Tuesday.
The oil sector lost its sheen after a two-day winning streak, taking its cue from the turbulent global oil prices, which resumed a decline after a fleeting recovery.
PetroChina, China’s oil giant, dived 4.71 percent and closed at 7.08 yuan.
The market sentiment remains tense, though more liquidity is being pumped into the capital market to maintain a steady interest rate.
According to the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), 360 billion yuan (around $55 billion) was injected into the financial system to ease the liquidity strain before the Chinese New Year holiday.