Chinese shares close lower Wednesday

BEIJING - Chinese stocks closed lower on Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 0.13 percent, at 2,903.19 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.30 percent lower at 9,648.39 points.

The combined turnover of stocks covered by the two indices stood at 355.6 billion yuan ($50.55 billion), shrinking from 393.6 billion yuan in the previous trading day.

Most stocks fell, with losers outnumbering gainers by 840 to 536 on the Shanghai bourse and 1,224 to 832 in Shenzhen.

Companies in the sectors of agriculture, electronics saw robust growth in share prices, with shares of Xinjiang Talimu Agriculture Development Co Ltd surging by the daily 10-percent limit to close at 5.36 yuan per share.

Steel, oil extraction and cement sectors led the decline.

The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, lost 0.28 percent to close at 1,674.39 points.