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1st Ld-Writethru: Chinese shares close lower on profit-taking

Xinhua, November 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

Chinese stocks retreated on Wednesday as investors took profits after two consecutive gains, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 0.22 percent to close at 3,241.14 points.

The smaller Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.11 percent lower at 10,973.8 points. The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, lost 0.55 percent to close at 2,165.71 points.

Both Shanghai and Shenzhen indexes touched a ten-month high in Wednesday's mid-trading, but declined in the afternoon session.

Total turnover on the two bourses was 679.9 billion yuan (about 98.66 billion U.S. dollars), beating Tuesday's 663.8 billion yuan.

Most sectors registered declines, with coal stocks taking the biggest hit, dropping more than 2 percent. Communications, non-ferrous metals, transportation and logistics sectors also fell over 1 percent.

Banks, home appliance manufacturers, wine makers and property developers posted gains. Gree Electric Appliances, the country's biggest air conditioner producer, jumped by the 10-percent daily limit to 25.55 yuan.

The Chinese yuan slipped again on Wednesday after ending its 12-day losing streak Tuesday. The central parity rate of the currency weakened 125 basis points to 6.8904 against the U.S. dollar.

Analysts believe that Wednesday's stock market retreat was only an adjustment after previous strong increases, as cautious investors have chosen to take profits and watch for the market's next move. Endi