Chinese shares close lower, investors cautious

Investors traded cautiously ahead of the release of China's first quarter GDP data, with the benchmark stock index down by more than one percent on Tuesday.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index went down 1.40 percent, or 29.94 points, to finish at 2,101.60. The Shenzhen Component Index lost 1.76 percent, or 133.58 points, to close at 7,449.71.

China is due to release growth data for the first three months on Wednesday, and market consensus expects expansion to have slipped below the annual target of 7.5 percent during the period.

Combined turnover on the two bourses expanded to 190.03 billion yuan (30.54 billion U.S. dollars) from 179.97 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

Analysts said the stock market was also driven down by fresh money supply data that showed M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 12.1 percent year on year at the end of March.

The rate was slower than the 13-percent target set for 2014, a disparity which analysts attributed to slower deposit growth and reduced capital inflows.

Financial shares dropped across the board, with the sub-index tracking the sector down 2.06 percent.

Industrial Bank decreased 3.01 percent. China Citic Bank moved down 2.81 percent and Ping An Bank closed 2.75 percent lower.

Sinolink Securities declined 4.03 percent. Citic Securities fell 3.62 percent and Industrial Securities lost 3.35 percent.

The cement and property sectors were also weak, with the sub-indices tracking the two sectors down 1.91 percent and 0.89 percent respectively.

The ChiNext Index, a NASDAQ-style board tracking China's growth enterprises, lost 0.21 percent, or 2.84 points, to end at 1,369.89 points.