Chinese shares close lower Friday

BEIJING, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks closed lower on Friday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 1.24 percent to 3,957.05 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.25 percent lower at 13,866.2 points.

The combined turnover of these two indices totaled nearly 2.29 trillion yuan (about 331.9 billion U.S. dollars), up from 2.11 trillion yuan on the previous trading day.

Shares in photovoltaics, energy storage, lithium batteries and optical communications led the gains, while oil and gas, computing power leasing, diversified finance, and chemical engineering stocks suffered steep losses.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, gained 1.3 percent to close at 3,352.1 points on Friday.

The STAR Composite Index, which reflects the performance of stocks on China's sci-tech innovation board, closed 1.15 percent lower at 1,669.98 points. ■