China slump leads Asia shares lower on regulatory crackdown, weak profits

Early selling intensified in China's stock markets in the afternoon, with the Shanghai Composite index and the CSI300 plunging 4.7 percent as of 0623 GMT, on track for the biggest one-day drop in more than three months, and set for weekly declines of 4.6 percent and 5 percent, respectively. China's securities regulator has urged domestic brokerages to cease financing clients' stocks purchases through swaps and other over-the-counter contracts, two sources with direct knowledge told Reuters, its