BEIJING, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks plummeted 2.96 percent on Thursday morning session with the Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, closed at 5,436.24 points.

    The Shenzhen Component Index on the smaller bourse ended at 17,803.87 points, down 2.35 percent.

    The shares regained vitality on the previous trading day by ending a four-day slide with banks leading the way. They opened sharply lower on Thursday morning and broke the 5,500-point mark by morning close.

    The new market heavy weigh PetroChina, which now accounts for 25 percent of the whole weight of counters for the Shanghai Composite Index, dropped by 3.56 percent to 38.99 yuan. China Life saw a 4.41-percent decline to 62.6 yuan.

    Securities firms also pummeled with Citic Securities dropping 4.68 percent to 98.98 yuan.

    Analysts held the slump of neighboring markets might be a direct factor for Thursday's drop.

    By midday, the Hong Kong market fell by 2.86 percent.