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1st LD Writethru: Chinese shares close mixed Wednesday

Xinhua, April 6, 2016 Adjust font size:

China's benchmark share index edged down on Wednesday, but stayed comfortably above 3,000 points, a level seen by many as psychologically important.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.08 percent to 3,050.59 points. The smaller Shenzhen index edged up 0.41 percent to end at 10,683.86 points.

The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, gained 0.77 percent to close at 2,297.04 points.

Investor confidence was generally bullish as business activity in China's service sector strengthened last month, as shown by the Caixin China General Services purchasing managers' index (PMI) published on Wednesday. The index rose to 52.2 from February's 51.2.

March's moderate expansion in the service sector, which follows rises in January-February industrial profits and PMI, lends support to belief that China's economy is improving on the back of supportive measures.

Total turnover on the two bourses shrank to 701.4 billion yuan (108.32 billion U.S. dollars), down from 713.61 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

Liquor makers, intelligent equipment producers, and oil refiners led the gains. Huiquan Beer jumped by the 10-percent daily limit to close at 16.34 yuan per share.

Sinopec, the country's largest oil refiner, climbed 2.05 percent to end at 4.98 yuan per share.

Bucking the trend, brokerages fell across the board. Western Securities Co. dipped 2.07 percent to end at 26.55 yuan per share. Endi