China Stocks Fall for Second Day on Manufacturing Data, Probes

China’s stocks fell for a second day after official data showed manufacturing contracted for a third month and authorities detained a top-performing hedge-fund manager in widening probes into market manipulation and insider trading.

The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 1.7 percent to 3,325.08 at the close, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index slid 1.5 percent in a fifth day of losses, the longest losing streak in almost two months. PetroChina Co. and Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. led declines for commodity shares, sliding at least 2.5 percent. Police raided hedge fund Zexi Investment on Sunday, according to a person familiar with the matter. The 26 companies that Zexi disclosed as a shareholder in the past 12 months fell by an average of 4.5 percent on Monday.