Detentions give bourses the jitters

Equities declined marginally on Tuesday, on the lowest turnover in a month, as a widened government probe into alleged illegal activities continued to roil the country's financial sector.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed 0.25 percent down at 3316.7 points, swinging between gains and losses as investors continued to digest the aftershocks caused by the police detention on Monday of a star Chinese fund manager, Xu Xiang, for alleged insider trading and market manipulation.

On Tuesday, the president of the State-owned Agricultural Bank of China Ltd, Zhang Yun was also reported by Chinese media to be assisting the authorities with an investigation.