Growth in financial shares failed to bring triumph to China's stock market Thursday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slipping 0.53 percent to close at 3,002.64 points.
The Shenzhen index closed 1.14 percent lower at 10,390.96 points. The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, was down 1.57 percent to close at 2,103.4 points.
Trading volume also dropped. The combined turnover on the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses shrank to 450.35 billion yuan (about 68 billion U.S. dollars), losing nearly 20 billion yuan from Wednesday.
Banks, brokerages and insurance companies were among Thursday's biggest winners. Bank of Ningbo rose 3.68 percent, and Hua Xia Bank went up 2.19 percent.
New China Life Insurance jumped 4.27 percent Thursday thanks to a latest buy-in from Fosun Group. Five companies controlled by Fosun Group had raised their combined stake in the insurer to 5.01 percent.
