Chinese stocks end down amid regional drops

Chinese shares closed lower on Tuesday amid regional declines with financial sector leading the drops.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 102.82 points to 4,335.45. The Shenzhen Component Index, which covers A and B shares, closed at 15,746.23, down 441.28 points, or 2.73%.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A shares and B shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, slumped 2.32% or 102.82 to 4,335.45 points after fluctuating between 4,472.15 and 4,321.27 points during the whole day.

Similarly, the Shenzhen Component Index on the smaller Shenzhen Stock Exchange plunged 2.73% or 441.29 to 15,704.64 points, after touching an intraday high of 16,350.09 points.

The combined turnover on the two bourses rose to RMB 203.7 billion from RMB 186.3 billion of the previous trading day.

Shanghai Pudong Development Bank<600000>, the Chinese partner of Citigroup Inc, moved down 8.99% to RMB 38.98. Shenzhen Development Bank Co<000001> lost 9.85% to RMB 29.75. China Merchants Bank Co<600036><3968>, the nation's biggest dual-currency credit-card issuer, fell 4.64% to RMB 31.63.

Blue chips underperformed due to lingering concerns over refinancing moves. Petrochina<601857><857>, which accounts for about a quarter of Shanghai key index rose to RMB 23.4 in the morning session but ended the day down 0.6% at RMB 22.43. China Shenhua Energy<601088><1088>, the largest coal producer declined 1.73% to RMB 50.03, also after an early surge.

As a whole, the mainland bourses witnessed an overall loss of individual stocks. Losers outweighed winners by 570 to 274 in Shanghai and 430 to 234 in Shenzhen.