(Yicai Global) March 13 -- Stock markets on the Chinese mainland manage to retrieve some of their opening losses today but still wound up lower going into the lunch break.

Chip stocks managed to end the morning almost unchanged after starting 4 percent lower, but the rest of the market did not fare so well. The Shanghai Composite Index went into lunch at 2,826.37, down 3.32 percent but recovering from an opening 4.08 percent deficit, while the Shenzhen Component Index climbed back to 10,558.19, down 3.5 percent, after starting 5.11 percent in the red. The ChiNext Price Index, which tracks growth enterprises listed in Shenzhen, ended the morning down 3.37 percent at 1,977 after starting 5.28 percent lower.

The markets collapsed at the opening bell following a crash in US markets yesterday, when the Dow Jones Industry Average lost 10 percent, the Nasdaq dived 9.51 percent and the S&P 500 Index plummeted 9.43 percent.