Stocks linked to missing Chinese billionaire Xiao Jianhua tumbled Friday as investors ignored a statement saying business at his vast empire was “normal” following reports of his abduction by security agents.
Shanghai-listed companies controlled by Xiao's Tomorrow Holding dropped by their daily limits in the first trading day in China after the week-long Lunar New Year break.
Chemical company Baotou Tomorrow Technology Co., which already was at risk of being delisted due to poor profits, closed five percent lower, the maximum allowed for companies under such warnings, at 10.17 yuan ($1.48).
Sugar producer Baotou Huazi Industry plunged 10 percent, the daily limit for most companies, to end at 12.17 yuan, while cement manufacturer Xishui Strong Year Co. also plumetted 10 percent to 17.54 yuan.
Financier Xiao was last seen at his apartment in Hong Kong's harbourfront Four Seasons hotel, according to reports in the city this week.
He was taken by mainland security agents last week, according to overseas Chinese-language media.
However, a statement late Thursday said "production and operations of Tomorrow Holding Ltd and its related companies are all normal”.
Xiao's case has sparked new fears that freedoms in Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous city with a separate legal system from the mainland, are under threat from Beijing.
Hong Kong's South China Morning Post said Xiao, the founder of Beijing-based Tomorrow Group, is in the mainland "assisting investigations" into the China stock market turmoil of 2015.
His wife Zhou Hongwen is now running his businesses, it said Friday.
Shanghai's composite index collapsed almost 40 percent in just two months in the summer of 2015.
The plunge came after authorities helped inflate a bubble in the market by encouraging investment, but when it burst officials sought to pin blame on market manipulators.
It is unclear how Xiao is being linked to the crisis, but mainland investigators have targeted several investment executives on suspicion of insider trading since 2015.
Stocks linked to missing Chinese billionaire Xiao Jianhua tumbled Friday as investors ignored a statement saying business at his vast empire was “normal” following reports of his abduction by security agents.
Shanghai-listed companies controlled by Xiao’s Tomorrow Holding dropped by their daily limits in the first trading day in China after the week-long Lunar New Year break.
Chemical company Baotou Tomorrow Technology Co., which already was at risk of being delisted due to poor profits, closed five percent lower, the maximum allowed for companies under such warnings, at 10.17 yuan ($1.48).
Sugar producer Baotou Huazi Industry plunged 10 percent, the daily limit for most companies, to end at 12.17 yuan, while cement manufacturer Xishui Strong Year Co. also plumetted 10 percent to 17.54 yuan.
Financier Xiao was last seen at his apartment in Hong Kong’s harbourfront Four Seasons hotel, according to reports in the city this week.
He was taken by mainland security agents last week, according to overseas Chinese-language media.
However, a statement late Thursday said “production and operations of Tomorrow Holding Ltd and its related companies are all normal”.
Xiao’s case has sparked new fears that freedoms in Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous city with a separate legal system from the mainland, are under threat from Beijing.
Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post said Xiao, the founder of Beijing-based Tomorrow Group, is in the mainland “assisting investigations” into the China stock market turmoil of 2015.
His wife Zhou Hongwen is now running his businesses, it said Friday.
Shanghai’s composite index collapsed almost 40 percent in just two months in the summer of 2015.
The plunge came after authorities helped inflate a bubble in the market by encouraging investment, but when it burst officials sought to pin blame on market manipulators.
It is unclear how Xiao is being linked to the crisis, but mainland investigators have targeted several investment executives on suspicion of insider trading since 2015.
