BEIJING, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks closed mixed on Thursday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 0.05 percent to 2,977.33 points.
The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.03 percent higher at 9,645.39 points.
The combined turnover of stocks on the two exchanges stood at 361.3 billion yuan (about 51 billion U.S. dollars), shrinking from 423.4 billion yuan the previous trading day.
Losers outnumbered gainers by 879 to 497 on the Shanghai bourse and 1,235 to 819 in Shenzhen.
The furniture industry posted strong performance, with shares of Zhejiang Youpon Integrated Ceiling Co., Ltd. rising 5.2 percent to finish at 18.83 yuan.
Bucking the trend, shares in the sectors of iron and steel, chemical fiber and cement led the losses. The share price of COFCO Capital Holdings Co., Ltd. dropped 6.56 percent to 10.26 yuan.
The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, gained 0.11 percent to close at 1,658.26 points.
