Brokerages lead declines in stock prices

Shanghai stocks extended losses on Wednesday to close below the 3,400-point level led by declines in brokerages.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 1.12 percent to 3,371.96 points, and the smaller Shenzhen Component Index also slumped 1.84 percent to 13,716.53 points.

The STAR 50 Index, meanwhile, plunged by 2.41 percent to 1,365.04 points, while the ChiNext Composite Index closed 1.76 percent lower at 2,697.83 points.

Turnover on the two bourses added up to 791.5 billion yuan (US$121.17 billion), expanding from the 701.7 billion yuan in the previous session, among which the Shanghai Stock Exchange posted the trading volume reaching 339.3 billion yuan, up 34.7 billion yuan.

As for individual shares, stocks of over 40 listed companies gained over 9 percent, while 22 tumbled by more than 9 percent.

Among industries, brokerages led the drop on Wednesday, with Wind Information’s sub-index for the securities sector dropping 3.43 percent. Guolian Securities Co dropped 8.27 percent, while Zheshang Securities and Sinolink Securities both shed over 6 percent.

Home appliance firms were also among the biggest decliners, with shares of four listed companies lost more than 4 percent, including Whirlpool China Co and Gree Electric Appliances.

In addition, auto parts shares, airports, stocks related to environmental protection and precious metal firms all performed weakly.

Coal firms, however, posted gains, as demand for coal increased in winter and its price in the futures market continued to rise to hit record highs. Henan Dayou energy Co, Yunnan Coal & Energy Co and Zhengzhou Coal Industry & Electric Power Co all surged by the daily limit of 10 percent.

Some shares related to wireless headphones also gained after Apple released its new AirPods Max wireless headphones, as did stocks of firms in Apple's supply chain.