SHANGHAI: China stocks ended slightly lower on Wednesday as investors paused for breath after three straight days of gain.
The blue-chip CSI300 index ended down 0.1 per cent at 3,577.75 points while the Shanghai Composite Index also eased 0.1 per cent to 2,903.65 points.
Both indexes were up for the past three session in a row as investors cheered Beijing's stimulus plan.
Sectors were mixed for the day, with most of them little changed.
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.38 per cent while Japan's Nikkei index closed up 0.46 per cent.
At 07:02 GMT, the yuan was quoted at 6.7817 per United States dollar, 0.33 per cent firmer than the previous close of 6.8041.
The largest per centage gainers in the main Shanghai Composite index were North China Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, up 10.06 per cent, followed by Nanning Department Store Co Ltd , up 10.05 per cent, and Liaoning SG Automotive Group Co Ltd, up 10.04 per cent.
The largest per centage losers in the Shanghai index were Fuda Alloy Materials Co Ltd, down 6.8 per cent, followed by Fujian Start Group Co Ltd, down 6.49 per cent and Huafang Co Ltd, down 6.22 per cent.
So far this year, the Shanghai stock index is down 12.2 per cent, the CSI300 has fallen 11.2 per cent while China's H-share index listed in Hong Kong is down 5.2 per cent.
Shanghai stocks have risen 2 per cent this month.
About 16.78 billion shares were traded on the Shanghai exchange, roughly 123.8 per cent of the market's 30-day moving average of 13.55 billion shares a day.
The volume in the previous trading session was 22.96 billion.
As of 07:03 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at a premium of 17.85 per cent over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.
The Shanghai stock index is below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
The price-to-earnings ratio of the Shanghai index was 12.63 as of the last full trading day while the dividend yield was 2.6 per cent.
So far this week, the market capitalisation of the Shanghai stock index has risen by 2.76 per cent to 30.79 trillion yuan.