2nd LD-Writethru: Chinese shares continue declining Tuesday

BEIJING, April 26– Chinese stocks continued dropping Tuesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 1.44 percent to close at 2,886.43 points. The combined turnover of stocks covered by the two indices stood at 838.8 billion yuan, down from 896.89 billion yuan the previous trading day. Losers outnumbered gainers 1,463 to 298 on the Shanghai bourse…

BEIJING, April 26 (Xinhua) — Chinese stocks continued dropping Tuesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 1.44 percent to close at 2,886.43 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 1.66 percent lower at 10,206.64 points.

The combined turnover of stocks covered by the two indices stood at 838.8 billion yuan (about 127.89 billion U.S. dollars), down from 896.89 billion yuan the previous trading day.

Losers outnumbered gainers 1,463 to 298 on the Shanghai bourse and 2,179 to 406 on the Shenzhen bourse.

Shares related to securities firms and textile and garment industries led the losses.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China’s Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, lost 0.85 percent to close at 2,150.51 points.

The People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, on Tuesday morning said that recent financial market fluctuations have been driven mainly by investor expectations and sentiment.

The bank will promote the steady and healthy development of the financial market and foster a sound monetary and financial environment, it said. Enditem