 "A woman walks past a window of a brokerage house with stock information reflected in it, in Shanghai. (Photo: Reuters)")
China stocks steadied in cautious trade on Tuesday following a sell-off the previous session that was triggered by the government's crackdown on irregular futures trade.
The CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen was little unchanged at 3,482.70 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index was flat at 3,325.67 points.
The relative stability in trading belied underlying concerns over a cooling economy and a continuing crackdown on risky trading. Trading volumes were light, probably reflecting investor cautiousness.
Stocks were hit hard on Monday on news that China has arrested two executives from a Hong Kong-owned fund for irregular futures trades and was investigating the general manager of Shanghai-based company Zexi Investment for suspected insider trading.
The summer rout in stocks has prompted regulators to restrict automated trading in commodities futures and tighten other rules which have winded the futures market.
Zhang Gang, an analyst at Central China Securities in Shanghai, said the market is unlikely to suffer a major downturn soon after the crackdown news, but expects downside pressure to mount as the US federal Reserve moves to raise interest rates, possibly by year-end.
Hong Kong shares climbed on Tuesday, tracking gains in global markets after the benchmark for US tech stocks hit its highest in 15 years.
The Hang Seng index climbed 1.4%, to 22,676.17 points and the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index jumped 1.1%, to 10,351.64.
