1st Ld-Writethru: Chinese shares continue to weaken on Wednesday

Chinese shares closed lower on Wednesday, still recouping most of the losses from a rock-bottom price notched during the afternoon session.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.52 percent lower at 2,735.56 points, while Shenzhen declined by 0.64 percent to close at 9,422.43 points.

The ChiNext Index, the NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, gained 0.17 percent to close at 1,997.46 points.

The ChiNext Index, as the only index to gain on Wednesday, rallied remarkably against heavy downtrend pressure.

Total turnover on the two bourses waned, standing at 510.28 billion yuan (77.87 billion U.S. dollars).

Losers outnumbered gainers by 704 to 293 in Shanghai and 1,035 to 496 in Shenzhen.

Sub-indexes related to ship-building, textile and real estate were among the worst performers.

The oil sector led the rally during the afternoon. PetroChina Company and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation both saw a steep surge after 2 p.m., and finally gained by 2.82 percent and 1.87 percent respectively.

The coal sector advanced in the morning session amid cross-the-board losses, and gained by 2.42 percent at closing, as officials vowed efforts to make the sector more efficient through supply-side structural reform.

China Shenhua Energy Company, the country's leading coal-based energy company, climbed 1.46 percent and closed at 13.24 yuan.

Chinese shares didn't get much relief from a broad recovery in the global capital market by plunging below the 2,700-point mark during the morning session, though opening cautiously higher.

The index dived further after the break and immediately fell by over 3 percent, before the heavyweights dragged the index straight up and closed slightly lower.

The Chinese capital market extended the losing streak from Tuesday, setting multiple unwelcome records in the two days. The global market insulated itself from the downbeat sentiment in China by gaining on Tuesday. Endi