Stocks tumble on disappointing data

Stock markets in the Chinese mainland tumbled on Monday as investors absorbed weak economic data and news of the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines plane.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index plunged below the 2,000 level, falling by 58.84 points or 2.86 percent to 1,999.07 points on Monday.

The Shenzhen Component Index tumbled to its lowest closing level in five years, falling by 210.04 points or 2.87 percent to 7,118.44 points.

Combined turnover on the two bourses on Monday was 219.63 billion yuan ($35.76 billion), up slightly from Friday's 215.84 billion yuan.

A series of releases of disappointing data over the weekend worried market watchers, adding to the slowing factory activity data and fall in real estate transactions last week.

China's consumer price index (CPI) fell to a 13-month low of 2 percent in February, according to data released Sunday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Analysts saw the dip in the consumer price index as a sign of weakening consumer demand and continuing difficulties for enterprises.

The NBS data also showed an unexpected fall of 18.1 percent in China's exports in February, resulting in a trade deficit of $22.98 billion.

The yuan saw a sharp drop against the US dollar on Monday, falling by 111 basis points to 6.1312 yuan to the dollar, its weakest level this year.

Financial stocks underperformed on Monday, with the banking sector falling by 2.79 percent and brokerages sliding by 3.29 percent. Shares linked to wearable media devices also retreated on Monday.

The disappearance on Saturday of a Beijing-bound flight from Malaysia weighed on the airline, tourism and insurance sectors on Monday.

Air China Ltd declined by 4.95 percent to 3.46 yuan while China Eastern Corp slumped by 3.56 percent to 2.44 yuan.

ChiNext, China's NASDAQ-style board for high-tech and fast-growing start-ups listed in Shenzhen, saw a big fall of 53.54 points or 3.67 percent to 1,407.07 points on Monday. Nearly 90 percent of the stocks listed on ChiNext declined, with 14 stocks falling by the daily limit of 10 percent.