BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Major Chinese stock indices ended lower Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 1.83 percent, at 2,728.76 points.
The Shenzhen Component Index closed 1.70 percent lower at 10,029.57 points.
The combined turnover of stocks covered by the two indices stood at 836.99 billion yuan (about 119 billion U.S. dollars), expanding from 818 billion yuan the previous trading day.
Losers outweighed gainers 1,223 to 244 on the Shanghai bourse and 1,762 to 390 in Shenzhen.
Stocks in the securities, banks and land transfers sectors led the losses, with shares of the Nanjing Securities Co., Ltd. edging down 6.71 percent to 15.30 yuan apiece.
Bucking the downward trend, companies in the vaccines and breeding sectors were among the biggest gainers, including Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. increasing by the daily limit of 10 percent to 14.25 yuan.
The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, lost 1.60 percent to close at 1,887.04 points.
