1st Ld-Writethru: Shares snap out of 2-day losing streak

Chinese shares rose on Friday after two days of losses as securities, high-speed rail and gold-related sectors performed well.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.2 percent to close at 2,810.31 points, and the smaller Shenzhen index closed 0.29 percent lower at 9,363.41 points.

Total turnover on the two bourses shrank sharply to 304.11 billion yuan (46.85 billion U.S. dollars) from Thursday's 355 billion yuan.

The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, dropped 0.11 percent to close at 1,934.87 points.

The Shanghai index saw a roller-coaster ride Friday. It opened lower and then dipped further before entering positive territory shortly after the midday break. But it did not hold long. The index retreated from positive ground twice before finally gaining.

Securities, agriculture, high-speed rail, environmental protection and gold-related stocks led the gains, with Ctrowell, a high-speed train equipment manufacturer, rising by the daily limit of 10 percent.

Shares related to artificial intelligence were among the big losers, despite the victory of Google program AlphaGo against the human Go champion Lee Sedol in the second game of a historic match.

Stocks have lost steam since Wednesday after China unveiled worse-than-expected trade data, putting an end to a 6-day rally.

Exports in dollar-denominated terms were more than 25 percent lower than in February 2015, worsening from the 11.2-percent decline in January.Imports dropped 13.8 percent, a milder decrease than the 18.8 percent in January, official data showed Tuesday. Endi