1st LD-Writethru: Benchmark Shanghai index hits 2-year high

BEIJING, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index on Thursday hit a two-year high after snapping an 11-day winning streak on Monday.

The index was up 0.87 percent to close at 3,474.75 points, the highest level since the end of 2015.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.14 percent higher at 11,319.91 points.

Combined turnover on the two bourses stood at 484.8 billion yuan (75.28 billion U.S. dollars), contracting from about 610 billion yuan the previous trading day.

Shares in the banking, insurance and liquor sectors led the gains.

ICBC, China's leading commercial bank, rose 6.1 percent to 7.13 yuan per share, its highest level in 10 years. Ping An Insurance saw its share price up by 0.35 percent to 77.61 yuan.

Kweichow Maotai, China's leading liquor maker, gained 0.38 percent to 750.74 yuan.

The SSE 50 Index, which tracks 50 stocks on the Shanghai Stock Exchange with large market capitalization and high liquidity, snapped a 15-day winning streak.

The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, lost 0.23 percent to close at 1,738.0 points

China's economy grew 6.9 percent year on year in 2017, well above the official target of around 6.5 percent, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday. Enditem