(Yicai   Global) March 16 -- China's mainland stock markets extended losses to a six-week low in afternoon trade, amid uncertainty as to how the novel coronavirus pandemic will affect the global and domestic economies.

The ChiNext Price Index, which tracks growth enterprises listed in Shenzhen, performed the worst among the three major stock benchmarks as it dived 5.9 percent to close at 1,910.77, its lowest point since early February.

The Shenzhen Component Index slid 5.34 percent to 10,253.28 and the blue cihp-heavy Shanghai Composite Index moved down 3.4 percent to 2,789.25, both hitting six-week lows.

Covid-19 cut retail sales in the world's second-largest economy by 20.5 percent annually over the first two months, according to figures published by the National Bureau of Statistics today. Industrial output was down 13.5 percent over the same period and fixed-asset investment was down 24.5 percent. The unemployment rate leaped to 6.2 percent in February after hovering between 5 percent and 5.3 percent for more than a year.