Global stock markets drop on lower China growth target

Stock markets around the world posted steep losses on Tuesday, one day after China’s leaders cut the country’s official growth rate to 7.5% from 8%, the South China Morning Post reported. Hong Kong’s stock market fell 2.2% to 20,806.25 on the most active day of trading in over a year. The S&P Asia ex-Japan 200 index fell 1.37% to 4,204.73, and mainland China’s CSI 300 index fell 1.56% to 2,621. In the US, the Dow Jones industrial average fell over 200 points – about 1.57% – to 12,759.15; the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices posted similar losses. Analysts say the sell-offs are due in part to Beijing’s official 7.5% growth forecast, announced at earlier this week at China’s annual congressional meeting. “The market interprets it as a signal that it’s time to sell and crystallize profits,” said Patrick Ho, an analyst at BNP Paribas Investment Partners.