Interactive | China Markets Live - Shanghai and Shenzhen shares finish strong on last-hour buying spree

Welcome to the SCMP's live markets blog. The intense volatility of recent weeks has every chance of remaining the core underlying theme of activity. Investors are increasingly focused the broader question of how this episode might affect the wider economy as many suspect the equity bubble has yet to fully deflate. We'll bring you the key levels, trading statements, price action and other developments as they happen.

Here’s a summary of market action Monday and today, with analyst views: 

• Shanghai up almost 3 per cent and Shenzhen jumps 3.8 per cent in last hour buying spree
• Hong Kong rallies to end over 3 per cent up, tracks Chinese shares
• China's forex reserves post record fall in month of August
• Investors eye resumption of trading in US after a holiday break there
• Market looks toward meeting next week by US Federal Reserve to see if they will decide on raising interest rates for first time in a decade

4:05pm: Hong Kong markets tracked mainland shares in the late afternoon with the Hang Seng Index closing 3.28 per cent higher or 675.52 points, at 21,259.04. The H-share index rose 4.13 per cent, 376.26 points, to finish at 9,479.48.

3:42pm: Goldman Sachs report said:

“August export data showed meaningful sequential improvement from the level in July, which likely provided some support to aggregate demand growth.

Exports by destination data showed that exports to the US contracted 1 per cent year on year vs  -1.3 per cent year on year in July. Exports to Japan fell 5.9 per cent year on year in August, vs -13 per cent year on year in July, and exports to the Euro area went down 7.5 per cent year on year vs -12.3 per cent year on year in July. Exports to ASEAN contracted 4.6 per cent year on year vs +1.4 per cent year on year in July, and exports to Hong Kong declined 3.8 per cent year on year vs. -14.9 per cent year on year in July.

Import growth, on the other hand, was disappointing, reflecting weak domestic demand and the fall in upstream import prices. Data probably would have been stronger if it were not for the Tianjin explosion effects.

As Tianjin is one of the top three ports in the country, around 5 per cent of foreign trade passes through the region. Besides, foreign trade activities in other ports can be impacted temporarily as well because of heightened safety inspections in light of the Tianjin explosion. We expect any negative impacts of the explosion to dissipate going into fourth quarter as there are plenty of large ports nearby with spare capacity.