1st LD-Writethru: Chinese stocks end four-day winning streak

A major Chinese stock index snapped a four-day winning streak to settle lower on Wednesday as investors were looking to lock in gains after a recent sharp rally.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index Wednesday edged down 0.27 percent to end the day at 3,104.44 points. The smaller Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.16 percent lower at 10,030.11 points.

Both indexes had rallied for four trading days as of Tuesday after weeks of sliding, as regulatory measures on containing financial risk weighed on stock market sentiment.

Chinese stocks rebounded strongly on Tuesday as the market regained momentum, with the Shanghai Composite Index rising 0.74 percent to end at 3,112.96 points and the Shenzhen Component Index surging 2.04 percent to 10,046.66 points.

Total turnover on the two bourses expanded to 473.5 billion yuan (about 69 billion U.S. dollars) on Wednesday from 460.7 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

Many shares related to Xiongan New Area, a new economic zone to be built near Beijing, lost ground on Wednesday with Tangshan Jidong Equipment and Engineering plunging 4 percent to 41.24 yuan each.

Shares of ports bucked the trend and rose across the board, with Nanjing Port gaining 1.59 percent to 19.76 yuan per share.

"The Shanghai Composite Index closed above the 3,100-point mark with gainers outnumbering losers, which shows that the market has not lost its momentum," said Sun Xiwei, chief investment strategist at CITIC Securities.

Sun predicted that some investors in the near future might divert money from safe-haven heavyweights to small-cap shares that have declined for weeks. Endi