BEIJING, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's major stock indices plunged in the morning session on Friday.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell by 4.11 percent to end at 3,127.92 points, narrowing from the 5.79-percent slump in late-morning trading and the biggest daily fall since February 2016.
The Shanghai SE 50 Index, which tracks actively traded industry leaders, fell 5.36 percent, while the smaller Shenzhen Component Index dropped 3 percent to end at 10,061.68 points.
Most stocks dropped, with losers outnumbering gainers by 1,217 to 73 in Shanghai, and by 1,644 to 191 in Shenzhen.
Shares of heavyweight bluechips plunged, with China Railways, Huatai Securities and China Pacific Insurance down nearly 9 percent.
Bucking the trend, the optoelectronic industry made some gains, led by device providers including HC SemiTek, Foshan Nationstar Optoelectronics and San'an Optoelectronics.
Analysts attributed the declines largely to tumbles in overseas stock markets, as the Dow Jones industrial average plunged more than 1,000 points Thursday, to sit 10 percent below its record-high of two weeks ago.
The Hang Seng Index fell by 3.33 percent to close at 29,436.73 in the morning session.
The ChiNext Index, tracking China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, lost 1.74 percent to end at 1,612.80 points.
