Chinese shares pulled back on Wednesday after a doubling of new coronavirus infections in mainland China highlighted continued risks posed by the pandemic, even as Wuhan, the Chinese city at the heart of the outbreak, ended its lockdown.
The Shanghai Composite index closed 0.19% lower at 2,815.37. The index had gained more than 2% on Tuesday.
The blue-chip CSI300 index ended 0.47% lower, after having closed 2.3% higher in the previous session.
Tuesday's gains had been driven by government stimulus measures. But while China's central bank will ramp up its policy easing to support the economy, debt worries and property risks will prevent it from following the US Federal Reserve's steep rate cuts or quantitative easing moves, policy sources told Reuters.
On Wednesday, the financial sector sub-index shed 0.62%, the consumer staples sector lost 0.8%, the real estate index declined 0.74% and the healthcare sub-index slid 0.42%.
The smaller Shenzhen index ended down 0.16% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 0.255%.
China said on Wednesday that new cases doubled on Tuesday as the number of infected travellers from overseas surged, and as new asymptomatic infections more than quadrupled.
The jump in cases comes as Wuhan ends a two-month lockdown. But a rise in virus cases led a city in the northern province of Heilongjiang to announce it would restrict the movement of its citizens.
The largest percentage gainers on the main Shanghai Composite index were Sunny Loan Top Co Ltd, up 10.09%, followed by Shaanxi Heimao Coking Co Ltd, gaining 10.08% and Sichuan Western Resources Holding Co Ltd, up by 10.07%.
The largest percentage losers on the Shanghai index were Ningbo Jifeng Auto Parts Co Ltd down 9.99%, followed by Shanghai Chinafortune Co Ltd losing 7.47% and Zhejiang Dibay Electric Co Ltd down by 7.24%.
So far this year, the Shanghai stock index and the CSI300 index have fallen 7.7%, while China's H-share index listed in Hong Kong is down 13.2%. Shanghai stocks have risen 2.37% this month.