Chinese shares close lower Thursday
Xinhua
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BEIJING, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks closed lower on Thursday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 0.26 percent at 3,332.18 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.48 percent lower at 13,624.89 points.

The combined turnover of stocks covered by the two indexes declined to 764 billion yuan (about 113.4 billion U.S. dollars) from 827.6 billion yuan the previous trading day.

Official data showed retreating food prices eased China's consumer inflation growth in September, while factory price decline widened.

The consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose 1.7 percent year on year last month, easing from the 2.4-percent rise registered in August.

The auto sector rose across the board on Thursday, with leading new energy vehicle manufacturer BYD up 0.8 percent to close at 131.55 yuan.

The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, lost 0.95 percent to close at 2,737.96 points.