Benchmark stock indices fall in China, Hong Kong

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 5.3% on Monday to 3016.70, just 89 points above the nadir hit by the benchmark during the mainland’s summer stock market meltdown, The Wall Street Journal reported. Traders said state-owned funds appeared to be absent from the market on Monday as shares plummeted near the end of trading hours. Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 2.8% to 19888.50, closing below 20000 for the first time since June of 2013. Meanwhile, the central bank guided the yuan higher, and currency traders said Chinese banks had been buying offshore yuan in an apparent attempt to align its price with that onshore, tightening liquidity across the Hong Kong-mainland border.