Chinese equities fell Tuesday, tracking the Wall Street slump overnight.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged down 3.61 points, or 0.12 percent, to close at 2,892.7. The Shenzhen Component Index fell 65.05 points, or 0.58 percent to end at 11,125.66.

Total turnover was 210.37 billion yuan (30.8 billion U.S. dollars), slightly shrinking from 220.66 billion yuan the previous trading day.

Losers outnumbered gainers by 533 to 315 in Shanghai and 448 to 273 in Shenzhen.

Overnight, U.S. stocks plunged as lower expectation of world economy hit global market. The Dow Jones fell 2.35 percent to 8,339.01. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 3.06 percent to 893.04. The Nasdaq shed 3.35 percent to 1,766.19.

In its latest forecast report, the World Bank predicted the world economy would shrink 2.9 percent in 2009, worse than the 1.7 percent drop in its previous forecast.

Banking shares rose across the board, however, boosted by market talk that the central bank was likely to cut the reserve requirement ratio.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China gained 1.31 percent to 5.42 yuan. China Minsheng Bank added 3.44 percent to 8.13 yuan. Bank of China surged 6 percent to 4.77 yuan.

Shares of steel producers also gained after the Ministry of Finance announced Monday that it would eliminate a 5-percent export duty on steel wire from July 1 to promote exports.

Baosteel, the country's biggest steel mill, was up 2.64 percent to 6.99 yuan. Angang Steel, the second-largest, climbed 6.54 percent to 13.2 yuan. Shares of Xinjiang Bayi Iron and Steel rose 5.07 percent to 11.61 yuan.

Coal producer shares fell on a crude oil price slump as investors decided that falling oil prices might indicate shrinking demand for all forms of energy. China Shenhua, the country's biggest coal miner, lost 3.06 percent to 26.57 yuan. Yanzhou Coal Mining Company dipped 1.77 percent to 14.98 yuan.

Oil prices ended below 67 U.S. dollars a barrel Monday as the World Bank lowered its global economic forecast, suggesting a deeper recession would undermine the recovery in oil demand.

Light, sweet crude for July delivery slumped 3.8 percent to 66.93 U.S. dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Source: Xinhua