China Stock Index Falls 5.2% After Premier's Comments on Economy

By Reinie Booysen
Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- China's stocks slumped, led by commodities suppliers and banks, after Premier Wen Jiabao said authorities can't be "blindly" optimistic about the
economy.
The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks the bigger of China's stock exchanges, fell 155.34, or 5.2 percent, to 2,838.09 as of 2:01 p.m. local time. It has dropped 17 percent this month, the world's worst performer, on speculation economic growth will falter and the government will curb new lending that rose to a record in the first half of the year.