BEIJING, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Major Chinese stock indices ended lower Thursday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropping 0.42 percent to 2,559.64 points.
The Shenzhen Component Index declined 0.93 percent to end at 7,470.36 points.
Trading volumes remained thin. Combined turnover of stocks in the two indices shrank to about 294 billion yuan (about 43.4 billion U.S. dollars) from 305 billion yuan the previous trading day.
Environmental protection and motorcycles led the decline among all sectors, with the sub-indexes dropping 2.13 percent and 1.79 percent, respectively.
Sinoma Energy Conservation Ltd. lost 4.22 percent to close at 5.68 yuan while Lifan Industry (Group) Co., Ltd. fell to 4.09 yuan, down 2.85 percent.
In contrast, shares related to development zones showed strong performance. Shanghai Shibei Hi-Tech Co., Ltd. rose by 10 percent, the maximum percentage allowed.
The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, lost 1.25 percent to close at 1,251.41 points Thursday.
