1st LD-Writethru: Chinese shares close mixed on weak export data

Chinese stocks closed after a mixed performance on Thursday as the country's September trade data missed market expectations.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.09 percent, at 3,061.35 points.

The smaller Shenzhen Component Index closed down 0.01 percent, at 10,787.49 points.

On the Shanghai exchange, 534 shares lost while 456 gained, and on the Shenzhen exchange, 848 shares lost while 755 gained.

Foreign trade in Q3 was down 1.9 percent from a year earlier to reach 17.53 trillion yuan (2.61 trillion U.S.dollars), with exports dropping 1.6 percent and imports falling 2.3 percent, according to the General Administration of Customs on Thursday.

September trade data missed market expectations. Exports measured in yuan fell 5.6 percent year on year, reversing a 5.9 percent rise in August, while imports slowed from rising 10.8 percent last month to just 2.2 percent.

The fall in exports occurred despite favorable moves in China's exchange rate, which should have boosted competitiveness. The Chinese currency has declined 0.8 percent against the U.S.dollar since its October 1 inclusion in the IMF's SDR basket, breaking the critical 6.7 threshold.

The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style enterprises, lost 0.05 percent to close at 2,208.57 points. Endi