Business this week

China’s stockmarkets had another turbulent week, including a 6% plunge in the Shanghai Composite Index on August 18th. There was no obvious explanation for the price swings, though a few days earlier the securities regulator announced that China Securities Finance Corporation, a state-backed lender that co-ordinated an injection of liquidity when markets tumbled last month, would no longer intervene on a daily basis. The rout this week eased after it transpired that government holding companies had been directed to increase their stakes in China’s big banks.