China stocks fell on Wednesday in thin trade and as liquidity in the banking system tightened. The Shanghai Interbank Offered Rate (SHIBOR), seen as the benchmark interbank rate, has been climbing higher. Three-month SHIBOR hit 4.8559 percent on Wednesday, its highest level since April, 2015.
At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was down 8.93 points or 0.27 percent at 3,287.61. The blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.12 percent, with its financial sector sub-index lower by 0.33 percent, the consumer staples sector up 3.16 percent, the real estate index down 1.32 percent and healthcare sub-index up 0.48 percent.
The smaller Shenzhen index ended down 0.74 percent and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 0.89 percent. Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 0.05 percent while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.10 percent.
At 07:05 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 6.591 per US dollar, 0.22 percent firmer than the previous close of 6.6058. The largest percentage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were Anhui Leimingkehua Co Ltd up 10.03 percent, followed by Chongqing Brewery Co Ltd gaining 7.47 percent and Shenzhen Gas Corp Ltd up by 7.42 percent.
The largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index were China Grand Automotive Services Co Ltd, down 8.75 percent, followed by Cangzhou Dahua Co Ltd losing 7.7 percent and Xinjiang Ba Yi Iron & Steel Co Ltd down by 6.44 percent. About 13.77 billion shares were traded on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 84.6 percent of the market's 30-day moving average of 16.28 billion shares a day. The volume in the previous trading session was 11.51 billion.
As of 07:06 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 31.16 percent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares. The Shanghai stock index is below its 50-day moving average and above its 200-day moving average.
The price-to-earnings ratio of the Shanghai index was 14.79 as of the last full trading day while the dividend yield was 2 percent. So far this week, the market capitalization of the Shanghai stock index has risen by 1.07 percent to 28.76 trillion yuan.