Chinese stocks dive more than 6% as oil falls - Jane Onyanga-Omara, USA TODAY

Chinese stocks dive more than 6% as oil falls

Jane Onyanga-Omara,  USA TODAY7:51 a.m. EST January 26, 2016

China’s benchmark index plunged more than 6% Tuesday, after a renewed slump in oil prices kept investors on edge about the global economy.​

The Shanghai composite index dived 6.4% to 2,749.79 — its lowest close since Dec.1, 2014 — continuing weeks of volatility for Chinese stocks.

U.S. stock futures recovered to around 0.3% higher Tuesday.

Asian markets were down — Japan’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 2.4% to close at 16,708.90 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 2.5%, finishing at 18,860.80 points.

In Europe, Germany's DAX index lost 0.5%, France's CAC 40 was down 0.4% and Britain's FTSE 100 was 0.7% lower.

Brent crude fell to under $30 a barrel early Tuesday, before reaching $30.33 at 5.35 a.m. ET. It lost $1.68, or 5.2%, to $30.50 a barrel the previous day.

Investors in China were in near-panic in the absence of a shift in government policies and economic fundamentals, said Chen Yong, market strategist for Lianxun Securities. The approach of the Lunar New Year didn’t help, as players become reluctant to invest for fear of any unexpected sharp falls in overseas markets.

Michael Every, who heads Financial Markets Research, Asia-Pacific, at Rabobank, said: "It’s just another in a long series of slumps that we have seen in this market, and it’s not the last we will see either because the market is still overpriced. And too many people want to get their money out. It’s been a bubble since it began last summer.”

Every expects another 10% drop or more in Shanghai shares before things settle down. U.S. stocks ended lower Monday as oil prices dropped.

Watch report here: USATODAY - China's stocks dive

Contributing: Associated Press

Scores dead as magnitude-7.5 quake hits Afghanistan - USA TODAY

Afghanistan earthquake region 10.26.15

The massive quake's epicenter was in northern Afghanistan, but tremors could be felt across several countries. VPC

Scores dead as magnitude-7.5 quake hits Afghanistan

Jane Onyanga-Omara, USA TODAY10:17 a.m. EDT October 26, 2015

(Photo: Naveed Ali, AP)

Scores of people have died after a magnitude 7.5. earthquake struck Afghanistan on Monday, causing deaths in neighboring Pakistan and tremors in northern India.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter of the quake was in the far northern Afghan province of Badakhshan, which borders Tajikistan and China.

"Significant casualties are likely and the disaster is potentially widespread," the USGS said.

Pakistani officials said the quake killed 145 people in northwestern Pakistan, bringing the total death toll from the disaster to 180, the Associated Press reported.

Agence France-Presse said the quake lasted for at least a minute.

In Afghanistan's Takhar province, west of Badakhshan, at least 12 students were killed in a stampede  at a girls’ school and at least five people died when homes collapsed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan, the AP reported.

At least 194 injured people were taken to a hospital in the Swat district of Pakistan and over 100 were taken to a hospital in Peshawar, northern Pakistan, the website Dawn reported. Arbab Muhammad Asim, district mayor of Peshawar, said: “"Many houses and buildings have collapsed in the city," AFP said.

Pakistani paramedics treat a man injured in an earthquake at a hospital in Peshawar, Pakistanon October 26, 2015. At least 17 people including eight children were killed in Pakistan when a 7.5 magnitude quake struck in Afghanistan.  A Majeed, AFP/Getty Images

Fullscreen

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Next Slide

People in Afghan capital Kabul, India's capital New Delhi and Pakistan's capital Islamabad reported feeling strong tremors. In Islamabad, walls swayed and people poured out of office buildings in a panic, reciting verses from the Quran, the AP said.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif asked authorities to use all resources to help any victims, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he has asked for an urgent assessment. The quake caused widespread power outages and cut phone lines in Kabul, according to the AP.  

Delhi's metro stopped running during the tremor.

"All of around 190 trains plying on the tracks were stopped at the time of the earthquake. The lines and the trains are now being restored after basic inspection of respective lines," Delhi Metro spokesman Anuj Dayal told AFP.

In October 2005. a 7.6 magnitude earthquake in the Kashmir region rocked parts of Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, killing more than 80,000 people.