1st LD-Writethru: Chinese shares close lower Thursday

BEIJING, July 21– Chinese stocks closed lower on Thursday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 0.99 percent, at 3,272 points. Turnover of stocks covered by the two indices stood at 1.02 trillion yuan, up from 952.5 billion yuan on the previous trading day. The ChiNext Index, tracking China’s Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, lost 0.5 percent…

BEIJING, July 21 (Xinhua) — Chinese stocks closed lower on Thursday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 0.99 percent, at 3,272 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.94 percent lower at 12,455.19 points.

Turnover of stocks covered by the two indices stood at 1.02 trillion yuan (about 150.84 billion U.S. dollars), up from 952.5 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

Stocks related to the semiconductor and gaming sectors led the gains, while those in the coal and chemical fertilizer sectors were among the biggest losers.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China’s Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, lost 0.5 percent to close at 2,751.41 points Thursday. Enditem