Chinese iron ore and rebar futures fall limit-down

Iron and rebar futures fell limit down on China's main commodity exchanges on Monday as speculators continued to exit positions.

Some market commentary on Monday referenced reduced liquidity as a result of recent efforts from regulators to reign-in a surge in retail investor interest in the space and downbeat economic data.

Rebar futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell by 6% to 2,175 yuan ($334.41) a ton, their lowest since 7 April.

Furthermore, the Dalian Commodity Exchange reportedly said on Monday it might raise transaction fees again to curb speculation.

That came amid data showing iron ore inventories stockpiled at ports across China jumped 1.4% to 99.85m tonnes last week - reaching their highest level since March 2015 - according to data from Shanghai Steelhome Information Technology Co. cited by Bloomberg.

Those holdings had expanded by 7.3% thus far in 2016 and risen in five of the past six weeks.

The recovery in China's economy will be neither "L-shaped" nor "U-shaped" or "V-shaped", the government-owned People's Daily reported on Monday, because Beijing would not employ excessive investment and credit in order to stoke growth.

Iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange for delivery in September were down by another 6% 338 yuan a tonne.

Agricultural commodities traded on China's main exchanges, such as soybeans and cotton, were also under pressure on Monday.

As of 08:12 BST the Shanghai Stock Exchange's Composite Index was down by 2.73% to 2,833.802.