Trade on Shanghai exchange halted due to collapse of over 7%

Transactions on China's main stock market in Shanghai were halted on Thursday after just half an hour due to a sharp dive of 7 percent in the benchmark CSI 300 index. The value of the Chinese currency, the Yuan, also tumbled and the price oil continued to decline, reaching $33 a barrel. Other Asian markets dipped in line with Shanghai, with the Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore markets losing 4.4 percent, 1.9 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively.