Chinese shares close lower on Friday

BEIJING - China's stocks extended their fall on Friday despite strong performances of securities shares.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index went down 1.43 percent to close at 3,580.84 points, while the smaller Shenzhen index lost 1.85 percent to close at 12,402.04 points.

The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, dropped 2.63 percent to close at 2,710.16 points.

Total turnover on the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses stood at 1.14trillion yuan ($179 billion), down from 1.23 trillion yuan the previous trading day.

The Shanghai Composite Index once fell by nearly 2 percent in the morning session. Losses quickly narrowed on strong securities shares, but the upbeat sentiment in the sector failed to boost the broader market.

Recently listed companies were the day's biggest losers, with 80 firms slumping by the daily limit of 10 percent. New energy vehicles continued to make good gains.

CITIC Securities analyst Sun Xiwei expects the market to fluctuate between 3,550 point and 3,650 points next week.