Chinese shares open 0.98 pc lower

Chinese share prices opened 0.98 per cent lower on Friday with investors taking their cue from a sharply weaker Wall Street amid further turmoil in the US credit markets, dealers said. Investors were unsettled with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing down 1.75 per cent on Thursday after Thornburg Mortgage and a Carlyle Group bond fund revealed troubles with mortgage-backed investments, they said. Ping An Insurance led the financial sector lower after strong gains in the previous session. It surged nearly eight percent on Thursday after shareholders approved the company's fund-raising plan. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, shed 42.69 points to 4,318.30. The Shanghai A-share Index fell 44.73 points or 0.98 per cent to 4,530.90 points while the Shenzhen A-share index was down 4.70 points or 0.32 per cent to 1,456.45.