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1st LD-Writethru: China shares close lower on new IPOs

Xinhua, March 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

Chinese shares fell more than 2 percent on Tuesday as investors worried that a new round of stock offers could divert funds from the market.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index shed 2.2 percent to finish at 3,263.05 points. The Shenzhen Component Index lost 3.01 percent to close at 11,526.22 points.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) on Monday gave the green light to 24 companies wanting to file for initial public offerings (IPO).

"The new listings could take away funds from existing stocks, hurting market sentiment," said Chen Dongwei, an analyst with CITIC Securities.

Property shares were among big losers. Poly Real Estate, one of China's property heavyweights closed down 5.58 percent. China Merchants Property Development slid 5.31 percent.

The sub-index tracking the financial sector lost 3.66 percent, with securities, insurance and bank shares dropping across the board.

Western Securities, Huatai Securities, Guoyuan Securities and China Pacific Insurance all saw a decline of more than five percent.

Bucking the trend, stocks related to environmental protection continued to rally, with the sub-index tracking the sector up 2.49 percent.

The ChiNext Index, China's Nasdaq-style tracking board of growth enterprises, shed 1.27 percent to end at 1,961.74 points. Endi