China stock market's margin debt falls to lowest level in over a year

The outstanding balance of margin debt on mainland China’s stock exchanges had dropped for 22 straight days as of Monday to RMB897.6 billion (US$136.4 billion), the lowest level since December of 2014, Bloomberg reported, citing market data. “The falling margin debt is taking its toll on the market and sentiment as there’s no fresh capital moving in and no one actually buys,” said Wang Zheng, the chief investment officer at Jingxi Investment Management in Shanghai. “Some brokerages are advising investors to close positions rather than add to margin requirements now to reduce business risks.”