Chinese stocks close mixed, financial shares lower

Chinese stocks closed mixed on Tuesday, dragged down by shares of banks and insurance companies.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.41 percent, or 9.29 points, to end at 2,276.07. The Shenzhen Component Index added 0.02 percent, or 1.98 points, to 9,110.45.

Combined turnover on the two bourses rose to 213.8 billion yuan (33.94 billion U.S. dollars) from 185.67 billion yuan the previous trading day.

Gainers outnumbered losers by 626 to 305 in Shanghai and by 1,108 to 368 in Shenzhen.

Insurance stocks led the declines as investors retreated after recent gains. Ping An Insurance, one of the country's largest insurance firms, retreated 3.73 percent to close at 45.46 yuan per share. China Life Insurance Co. slid 3.19 percent to end at 21.22 yuan.

Bank shares lost ground on Tuesday. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's biggest lender by market value, dropped 2.13 percent to finish at 4.14 yuan per share. Bank of Beijing, a mid-sized city lender, fell 2.75 percent to close at 9.19 yuan.

Brokerage shares were also hit. Everbright Securities Co. slid 2.93 percent to 13.56 yuan, while Industrial Securities Co. fell 2.54 percent to 11.89 yuan.

Bucking the trend, satellite-related shares rallied on speculation that the total output of China's navigation service sector will reach 500 billion yuan in 2020, up from 120 billion yuan in 2012.

Five satellite stocks, including Hi-Target Navigation Tech Co. and Beijing BDStar Navigation Co., rose by the 10-percent daily limit.