Chinese shares close lower Thursday

Chinese stocks closed lower on Thursday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 1.59 percent to 3,707.48 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 2.42 percent lower at 11,816.79 points.

Turnover of stocks covered by these two indices totaled about 1.63 trillion yuan (around 242.36 billion U.S. dollars), up from 1.41 trillion yuan on the previous trading day.

Stocks related to liquor and securities led the gains, while those in sectors such as computing hardware, semiconductor chips, coal, and oil and gas, saw the biggest declines.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, lost 2.91 percent to close at 2,783.17 points on Thursday.

The STAR Composite Index, which reflects the performance of stocks on China's sci-tech innovation board, closed 2.76 percent lower on Thursday at 1,586.88 points.

Chinese shares close lower Thursday

The STAR Composite Index, which reflects the performance of stocks on China's sci-tech innovation board, closed 2.76 percent lower at 1,586.88 points on Thursday.

The STAR 50 Index, which tracks the 50 largest stocks listed on the board that also meet certain liquidity requirements, closed 1.5 percent lower at 1,359.52 points.

The sci-tech innovation board, commonly known as the STAR Market, was inaugurated in June 2019 at Shanghai Stock Exchange. It is designed to support companies in the high-tech and strategic emerging sectors.

China's STAR Composite Index closes lower Thursday