BEIJING, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Major Chinese stock indices ended higher Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.42 percent at 2,808.91 points.
The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.72 percent higher at 8,966.47 points.
The combined turnover of stocks on the two exchanges stood at 402.4 billion yuan (about 57.22 billion U.S. dollars), expanding from 339.7 billion yuan the previous trading day.
Gainers outnumbered losers 951 to 401 on the Shanghai bourse and 1,402 to 613 in Shenzhen.
Stocks in the pharmaceutical industry led the gains, with shares of Tonghua Golden-horse Pharmaceutical Industry Co., Ltd. surging by the daily limit of 10 percent to 6.36 yuan.
Food and beverages shares also notched solid gains, as shares of household liquor maker Luzhou Laojiao Co., Ltd. hiked 5.45 percent to 83.52 yuan apiece.
Bucking the upward trend, shares of agricultural companies spearheaded the losses, with Shandong Denghai Seeds Co., Ltd. sinking 4.88 percent to 8.39 yuan.
The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, gained 0.81 percent to close at 1,536.66 points.
