1st LD-Writethru: Chinese shares retreat after PBOC clarification

Chinese shares wobbled on Tuesday, closing at just under the 3,000-point mark after a seven-day winning streak.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.64 percent to 2,999.36 points, while the smaller Shenzhen index dipped 0.48 percent at 10,344.08 points.

The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, ended 0.24 percent lower at 2,221.7 points.

Total turnover on the two bourses waned to 750 billion yuan (115.44 billion U.S. dollars), compared to 817.2 billion yuan on Monday.

Financial heavyweights were the biggest losers on Tuesday, with CITIC Securities, China's largest brokerage, closing 3.54 percent lower at 17.99 yuan.

The shares opened lower amid uncertainty over the extent to which the central bank was encouraging the public to buy shares.

Media reports had quoted People's Bank of China (PBOC) governor Zhou Xiaochuan urging people to put their savings into the stock market. But the PBOC said in its Sina Weibo microblog on Monday night that Zhou's comments had been misinterpreted.

The wobble also came after ZhuHai BoYuan Investment Company became the first enterprise to be de-listed for violating disclosure rules.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange announced the move on Monday.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission began an investigation into ZhuHai BoYuan in June 2014 and suspended trading of its shares in May 2015. Endi