File photo: VCG

BEIJING, July 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks closed higher Monday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.26 percent at 3,205.23 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.32 percent higher at 12,976.87 points.

The combined turnover of stocks covered by the two indices shrank to nearly 927.2 billion yuan (about 132.5 billion U.S. dollars) from 1.33 trillion yuan the previous trading day.

Losers outnumbered gainers by 746 to 643 on the Shanghai bourse and 1,143 to 1,011 in Shenzhen.

Firms in the gold and agriculture sectors were among the biggest gainers, with shares of Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining Co. Ltd., a company engaged in non-ferrous metals mining and dressing, surging by 9.99 percent to 17.84 yuan.

Companies related to duty-free stores and lab-grown meat led the losses.

The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, gained 0.15 percent to close at 2,631.76 points Monday.