China stocks tumble as gold shares drag; still set for monthly gain
China and Hong Kong stocks fell sharply on Friday, driven by a significant drop in gold prices, leading to a broad market selloff. The Shanghai Composite Index declined 1.2%, while the CSI 300 Index was down 1%. Gold-related shares experienced the largest losses, with the CSI SSH gold equity index and CSI SWS non-ferrous metal index both dropping around 8.7%. Despite Friday's declines, the Shanghai benchmark is up 3.5% for January, marking its best monthly gain since August.
