China Trims Losses Brought on by U.S. Downgrade

Shares in China ended down on Monday (August 8), trimming losses after a bigger slide earlier, amid fears after the historic downgrade of the U.S. debt rating.

The Hang Seng Index finished down 2.17 percent at 20,490.57. The China Enterprises Index ended down 2.81 percent at 11,113.45.

Beijing officials have so far been publicly silent about the blow to Washington after Standard and Poor stripped the United States of its top-tier AAA credit rating last Friday (August 5). But state-run media have issued bleak warnings about the potential damage to China's growth and huge holdings of U.S. treasury assets.

The Shanghai Composite Index recorded its largest single-day loss since November last year, finishing down 3.79 percent at 2,526.82 as A-share turnover surged to its highest in two weeks.