SCI hits 22-month low

The Shanghai Composite Index (SCI) ended the day at a 22-month low on Wednesday, falling 2.9% to close at 1,929.05, AP reported. News of exposure to Lehman Brothers weighed on banks, while information that more dairy companies had produced melamine-tainted milk affected dairy stocks. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank and China Merchants Bank all fell by the daily limit of 10%. Also down by 10% were Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group, China’s second-largest milk producer, and Shanghai’s Bright Dairy and Food Company. Financial stocks fell despite the central bank’s efforts early in the week to bolster the economy through cuts to banks’ required reserve ratios and lending rate.