1st LD-Writethru: Chinese shares close lower Wednesday

BEIJING, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks closed lower Wednesday, dragged down by weak performance in the steel and cement sectors.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index went down 0.27 percent to close at 3,287.61, while the Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.65 percent lower at 11,003.33.

Combined turnover on the two bourses stood at 362.5 billion yuan (about 54.87 billion U.S. dollars), slightly up from 332.8 billion yuan the previous day.

Companies in the steel, cement, and aircraft manufacturing sectors suffered the biggest losses. Xinjiang Ba Yi Iron & Steel saw its share price slump 6.58 percent.

Bucking the trend, firms in the retail sector saw widespread gains. Yonghui Superstores saw its shares rise 7.25 percent.

The World Bank Tuesday raised China's growth forecast for this year, from 6.7 percent to 6.8 percent, based on rising household income and improving external demand.

It was the bank's second upward revision for China, after it revised up the projection from 6.5 percent to 6.7 percent in April. Enditem