沪深两市市值蒸发近7670亿美元

Not content with a 6.4 per cent tumble last Friday to cap off the worst week since the financiAl crisis, the Shanghai Composite chose to push the envelope today, chalking up a 7.4 per cent fall to 4,192.88.

上周五，上证综指收跌6.4%，为金融危机以来表现最糟糕的一周画上了句号。今日，该指数选择挑战一下极限，以7.4%这一更大的跌幅收盘，最终收至4192.88点。

At an intra-day low of 4,139.53, the index was down as much as 8.57 per cent.

该指数今日盘中一度跌至4139.53点，跌幅高达8.57%。

The 7.4 per cent fall now ranks as the second-biggest fall this year for Shanghai stocks, behind a 7.7 per cent plunge on January 19. It also makes the cut as the fifth-biggest daily fall since 2000 (see table). The index is now down 18.8 per cent since a multi-year closing high of 5,166.35.

上证综指今日的下跌创下今年以来上海股市第二大单日跌幅（1月19日下跌7.7%），也是2000年以来的第五大单日跌幅（见图表）。上证综指现在已较5166.35点的多年收盘价高点下跌了18.8%。

That leaves the index very close to entering bear market territory, defined as a decline of 20 per cent from a peak.

该指数非常接近于进入熊市，熊市的定义是自峰值水平下跌20%。

On an intra-day basis, the Shanghai Composite did enter a bear market, with a fall of 20.06 per cent from an intra-day high of 5,178.191 on June 12 to today's intra-day low. On a closing basis, the level for a bear market is 4,133.08.

按盘中价格计算，上证综指其实已步入熊市，从6月12日5178.19点的盘中高点到今日的盘中低点，跌幅已达20.06%。按收盘价计算，要达到熊市标准，收盘点位需要达到4133.08点。

The Shenzhen Composite is already growling, down 20.3 per cent from its June 12 record close of 3,140.663. The tech-heavy index closed 7.87 per cent lower at 2,502.96 for its biggest one-day drop since June 10, 2008, and its third-biggest one-day fall since 2000 (see table).

深证综指已从6月12日3140.66点的创纪录收盘点位下跌20.3%。成份股中科技股众多的该指数今日收跌7.87%，至2502.96点，为自2008年6月10日以来最大单日跌幅，也是自2000年以来第三大单日跌幅。

For the week, the Shanghai Composite was down 6.37 per cent and the Shenzhen Composite was down 8.72 per cent, for the first back-to-back weekly declines since early February.

本周，上证综指累计下跌6.37%，深证综指累计下跌8.72%，这是自2月初以来首次出现连续两周下跌。

On a back-of-the-envelope calculation (relax, I'm using a spreadsheet), today's fall wiped a combined $767bn in market capitalisation from the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges.

粗略算来，今天的下跌导致沪深两市市值蒸发了7670亿美元。

During China's bull market of 2006-07, the Shanghai Composite suffered six corrections greater than 10 per cent (see squiggle chart). That includes a decline from mid-October to the end of November 2007 that wiped off 21.15 per cent. Although the index managed to recover some poise after that, the bear market had begun, and the index then sank for the next 12 months as the financial crisis took hold.

2006-07年的中国牛市期间，上证综指曾经历6次跌幅超过10%的调整（见图表），其中包括从2007年10月中旬到11月底的一轮下跌行情，那次的跌幅达21.15%。尽管该指数在那之后有所企稳，但沪市却开始步入熊市，随着金融危机站稳脚跟，该指数在接下来的12个月里一路下跌。

In other words, during that previous bull market, there was no sustainable recovery from a correction as deep as the one Chinese investors are experiencing now. It remains to be seen whether that pattern will play out this time around.

换句话说，在那次牛市中，中国投资者在遭遇和这次同等幅度的调整后，并没有迎来可持续的反弹。这一次，这一幕是否会重演，还有待观察。