BEIJING, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks closed lower Wednesday, snapping a two-day rising streak.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.55 percent to close at 3,271.67. The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.94 percent lower at 10,904.99.
Combined turnover on the two bourses stood at 428.5 billion yuan (67.7 billion U.S. dollars), up from 386.5 billion yuan the previous trading day.
Both indices broke the rises on Monday and Tuesday, showing fragile investor confidence affected by sharp declines in early February.
The coal mining and steel making sectors were among the weakest on Wednesday, with their sub-indices down 1.7 percent and 1.42 percent, respectively.
China Shenhua, the largest coal miner in China, dropped 1.67 percent to 23.53 yuan per share. Shandong-based Yanzhou Coal Mining dropped 4.72 percent. Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., the largest steel maker by market value, dropped by 2.28 percent to 9.42 yuan.
Bucking the trend, the shares of newly listed companies were the strongest with the sub-index rising 1.57 percent. Among those firms, six surged by the daily limit of 10 percent.
The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style enterprises, dropped 0.69 percent to close at 1,785.27.
