China Stock Market Closes Lower Despite New Rate Cut

China’s stocks have closed lower despite a fresh interest rate cut by the country’s central bank.

Shanghai Composite fell 1.27% to 2,927.29, after veering in and out of negative territory.

It had fallen about 16% this week, rocking global markets.

On August 25, China’s central bank cut its key lending rate by 0.25 percentage points to 4.6% in a bid to calm stock markets after the past days’ turmoil.

The dramatic losses and volatility in China have shattered investor confidence and led to sharp falls in Asia and the US over the past days.

European markets were down by about 1% in morning trading on August 26, after rallying on the previous day.

The interest rate cut was the fifth by the People’s Bank of China since November 2014.

A rate cut will make it cheaper for banks to borrow from the central bank and will in turn make it easier for businesses and private people to borrow money from those banks.

Given China’s central role in world trade, a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy would be likely to reverberate around the globe.

Japan’s Nikkei gains come after a painful week for the Tokyo index, which had shed more than 8% in the past two sessions.

South Korea’s Kospi index was also in positive territory, closing 2.6% higher at 1,894.29 points, while in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 finished 0.7% up at 5,172.80.

Overnight, European and US markets saw another session of volatile trading. Wall Street’s Dow Jones closed 1.3% down, marking the sixth consecutive day of falls for US stocks.

London’s FTSE 100 index closed up 3% as major markets in France and Germany both gained more than 4%.