Chinese shares close higher Wednesday

BEIJING, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks closed higher on Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.32 percent to 4,062.98 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 1.05 percent higher at 14,187.80 points.

The combined turnover of these two indices totaled 2.05 trillion yuan (about 297.49 billion U.S. dollars), down from 2.21 trillion yuan on the previous trading day.

Shares in the sectors of computing power industrial chains and storage chips led the gains, while stocks in the oil and gas, and chemical engineering sectors suffered major losses.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, gained 2.02 percent to close at 3,346.37 points Wednesday.

The STAR Composite Index, which reflects the performance of stocks on China's sci-tech innovation board, closed 1.77 percent higher at 1,729.12 points on Wednesday. ■