SHANGHAI stocks plunged 4.48 percent yesterday, the biggest single-day drop in five weeks, amid weak market sentiment and growing uncertainties over the impact of the deadly earthquake that hit Sichuan Province last week.

The Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 161.60 points to 3,443.16 after reaching an intraday high of 3,632.01. Turnover rebounded to 90.78 billion yuan (US$12.96 billion), against 68.55 billion yuan on Monday. Losers outnumbered gainers 784 to 43 while 80 stocks were unchanged.

"Technically, the correction was caused by the slack performance of big caps as well as rather weak market sentiment among investors, mainly due to growing concerns over the negative impact likely to be brought by the May 12 earthquake," said Yu Wei, an analyst at Shanghai Shiji Investment Consulting Co Ltd. "A wait-and-see attitude was currently prevalent" and a continuous correction was still very much on the cards.

Among decliners were the major top 10 big caps including Aluminum Corporation of China Ltd, or Chalco, the country's largest aluminum maker, which dropped 6.61 percent to 20.77 yuan. Ping An Insurance Co of China, the country's second-largest life insurer, plunged 5.28 percent to 57.04 yuan. China Merchants Bank, the country's largest duel-currency credit card issuer, lost 4.38 percent to 30.12 yuan and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, Asia's biggest oil refiner, also known as Sinopec, fell 4.04 percent to 11.41 yuan.

China National Petroleum Corp, Sinopec's parent, said in a newsletter yesterday that the firm's fuel supplies to quake-hit areas have been completely restored as its filling stations have reopened.

Sichuan Hongda Chemical Industry Co, the country's third-largest zinc producer, slumped to 32.68 yuan as it resumed trading yesterday after a five-day halt. It lost about 387.7 million yuan due to the quake, with 79 employees killed.