Chinese stocks dropped further 3.9% this morning, sending the Shanghai Composite Index to 50% below its October peak. The index includes all the 862 companies on the larger of China’s two stock exchanges.

“Even while China’s export growth is slowing as a result of the economic slowdown in the West,” says Chris Mayer in The Daily Reckoning, “its economy is continuing to hold up remarkably well as domestic and regional demand picks up — and the country’s appetite for imports is helping the emerging markets to withstand the US slump.”

European interest rate decisions due today. In the currency market, the dollar eased against the euro. Late Wednesday, the euro was trading at $1.5756 vs. $1.5731 on Tuesday.