BEIJING, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.96 percent, at 2,917.8 points.
The Shenzhen Component Index closed 1.38 percent higher at 8,925.73 points.
The combined turnover of stocks in the two indices stood at 504 billion yuan (about 73.16 billion U.S. dollars), expanding from 321.8 billion yuan the previous trading day.
Most stocks rose, with gainers outnumbering losers by 1,270 to 144 on the Shanghai bourse, and 1,780 to 292 in Shenzhen.
Companies in intellectual property protection and environmental protection sectors were among the biggest gainers, with Elefirst Science & Technology Co.,Ltd. seeing its share price up by the daily 10-percent limit to 6.68 yuan a share.
Stocks related to the breeding industry and gold led the losses.
The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, gained 0.98 percent to close at 1,469.99 points.
