Shares in biggest dive for 4 years

Mainland exchanges experienced their biggest one-day drop in more than four years yesterday as investors dumped shares amid fears a barrage of upcoming domestic listings would drain liquidity from the markets. The benchmark Shanghai composite index, which tracks A- and B-shares, finished Wednesday at 1,589.6, a drop of 5.3%. Opinions varied on on how the market would react after Beijing lifted a one-year freeze on new initial public offerings in May. Some analysts claimed a deluge of new IPOs could bring the market down, while others believed new high-class listings could attract more investors, and help divert some of China's US$3.6 trillion in total bank deposits into equities.