A resident checks the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong, south China, Jan. 21, 2008. Hong Kong stocks nose-dived 1,383.01 points, or 5.49 percent, to close at 23,818.46 on Monday, the worst single-day slump since Sept. 11, 2001. (Xinhua/Zhou Lei)

Mainland stocks yesterday joined a global selloff amid intensifying worries of an impending U.S. recession with the key Shanghai index suffering the biggest one-day fall in six months.

The Shanghai Composite Index slid 266.07 points to close at 4917.44, with 767 out of 909 stocks closing lower. It has fallen a combined 10.4 percent within a week. The Shenzhen Component Index tumbled 5.08 percent, or 920.46 points to close at 17210.93. The turnover on the two bourses amounted to 199.8 billion yuan (27.5 billion U.S. dollars).

Investor pessimism over a U.S. stimulus plan to prevent a recession sent stocks plummeting worldwide.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index tumbled 5.49 percent to close at 23818.86, the largest percentage drop since the September 11 terror attacks. Japan's Nikkei Index fell 3.86 percent to close at 13325.94.

Germany's DAX was down 6 percent in morning trading, France's CAC 40 slid 6.1 percent, while Britain's FTSE 100 dropped 5.1 percent.

Analysts said that the fears of a U.S. recession are fueling the bearish sentiment in China.

The market yesterday was also responding in part to Ping An of China's announcement that it would issue A shares and convertible

Editor: Yan