(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-19 16:48

Shanghai- Chinese stocks slumped Thursday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropping 6.5 percent as profit-taking following a rally the day before prompted a sell-off by jittery investors.

An investor with a crutch stands in front of an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in Nanjing, Jiangsu province June 11, 2008. Chinese stocks slumped Thursday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropping 6.5 percent. [Agencies]

The Shanghai index lost 192.24 points to 2,748.87. The Shenzhen Composite Index of China's smaller, second bourse plunged 7.4 percent to 780.56.

Shanghai market heavyweight PetroChina, the listed unit of China's biggest oil and gas company, led the decline, falling 5.7 percent to 15.17 yuan.

The Shanghai benchmark had gained 5.2 percent Wednesday, snapping a losing streak that had lasted for nearly two weeks. Share prices opened lower as investors sold to cash in on those gains and then fell further as panic-driven selling gathered momentum, analysts said.

An overnight decline on Wall Street and persistently high oil prices further blackened the mood.

"It seems nothing can rescue the market from the prevailing pessimism. Maybe it's time to take a break, have a cup of tea and just wait," said Xu Zhiyuan, an analyst at CapitalEdge Investment Management Co. in Shanghai.

The Shanghai Composite Index has fallen almost 48 percent since the beginning of the year.

A slew of large capitalized shares fell by the daily 10 percent limit.

Air China dropped 10 percent to 8.03 yuan, China Eastern Airlines also fell 10 percent, to 6.54 yuan.

Property giant China Vanke slipped 10 percent to 9.24 yuan while Poly Real Estate Group lost 10 percent, to 12.47 yuan.