BEIJING: China shares ended lower on Wednesday, as profit-taking in tech stocks with high valuations outweighed gains in automakers on expectations of strong sales growth this year.

At the close, the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.46% to 3,517.31 and the blue-chip CSI300 index shed 0.29%.

The CSI300 IT index lost 3.4%, while the STAR50 index tracking Shanghai’s tech-focused STAR Board, fell 1.9%.

The auto sector sub-index surged 5.4%, the consumer staples sector was up 1.1%, while the healthcare sub-index gained 0.9%. ** Chongqing Changan Automobile Co Ltd reported a growth of 87.2% in its January vehicle sales from a year ago, while the country’s industry association forecast a 4% rise in total annual vehicle sales for 2021 at 26.3 million units.

Losses were also capped after China reported its fewest number of new COVID-19 cases for a single day in more than a month, the latest indication that the current wave of the disease is subsiding ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, aiding investor sentiment.

The smaller Shenzhen index ended down 0.85% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 0.153%.—Reuters