Suntech Power is traded on the New York Stock Exchange, and had a market capitalization of $16 billion at its peak. Its stock, which was already taking a beating, closed at just under 59 cents a share on Tuesday before trading was halted in response to the bankruptcy. The stock had reached $88.35 at its peak five years ago. Several competitors, including Trina, JA Solar and Yingli, posted increases in a generally robust market.

“There’s some feeling out there among investors that this will take some of the capacity offline,” said Adam Krop, an analyst at Ardour Capital Investments, adding that Suntech was likely to continue production at some level with government support aimed at preserving jobs. There may also be renewed enthusiasm for solar stocks among investors, Mr. Krop said, as the prices of panel components like polysilicon, wafers and cells have been edging up since the beginning of the year.

The company failed to make payments last Friday on $541 million of convertible debt.

The fact that Suntech Power’s Chinese subsidiary filed for bankruptcy protection without the parent also filing may cause acrimony over whether foreign creditors are being treated unfairly compared with domestic creditors in China.

It is rare for Chinese companies to file for bankruptcy, as the government sometimes steps in to avoid damaging the broader reputation of Chinese companies’ creditworthiness.

The insolvency filing by Wuxi Suntech sets off a potentially complex legal fight that could damage international investors’ faith in Chinese bonds, after many months of scandals that have already hurt enthusiasm for the overseas-listed shares of Chinese companies.

Wuxi Suntech holds virtually all of the factories and other physical assets of Suntech Power, and these assets are in China, which makes it easier for the Chinese banks to take ownership of them. Foreign lenders to Suntech Power, like the investors who bought its convertible bonds, are “structurally subordinate” to the Chinese lenders in trying to recover their money from these assets, according to legal experts.

But most of the Suntech group’s sales were in the United States and Europe, because China’s renewable energy policies tended to emphasize manufacturing subsidies that would allow Chinese companies to capitalize on foreign governments’ subsidies for consumers. Foreign lenders could have an advantage in seizing dollars and euros in overseas accounts, as well as the money that overseas buyers still owe Suntech, which allowed many creditors to delay paying for panels until months after they were delivered.