Financial markets sold off sharply on the first trading day of 2016. Over the weekend, the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 index fell by 7 percent, triggering a newly installed circuit-breaker to halt trading for the day. Reasons for sell-off appear to include China’s weak manufacturing and slow recovery, and the potential lifting of a ban on insider selling by major Chinese shareholders this coming Friday. Expect continued volatility in the stock market and economy much of this year.
