BEIJING, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks closed lower Thursday as market sentiment remained weak.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.28 percent to close at 3,147.45 points. The smaller Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.98 percent lower at 10,265.2 points.
Total turnover in the two indices expanded to 496 billion yuan (72.6 billion U.S. dollars) from 392 billion yuan on the previous trading day.
The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, was down 1.44 percent to close at 1,798.38 points.
Environmental stocks dropped the most, with CEC Environmental Protection Co., Ltd. shedding 6.37 percent to 10.44 yuan.
Technology firms also lost. Inspur Software Co., Ltd. fell 6.91 percent to 20.21 yuan, while Founder Technology Group Co., Ltd. slipped 1.61 percent to 3.67 yuan.
Most shares saw declines on Thursday, putting heavy pressure on the market sentiment in the short term, said Huatai Securities in a note.
Financial companies bucked the downward trend, with banks leading the gains.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's largest lender by capitalization, climbed 0.99 percent to 5.1 yuan. China Merchants Bank gained 6.66 percent to 22.73 yuan.
