Shares down after roller-coaster trading

Stock markets on the Chinese mainland ended Wednesday on a downswing as few cues emerged to direct investors.

The Shanghai Composite Index shaved off 20.80 points, or 1.01 percent, to finish at 2,044.92; while the Shenzhen Component Index shed 122.88 points, or 1.5 percent, to close at 8,063.80.

Combined trading volume at the two exchanges reached 202 billion yuan ($32.94 billion), up modestly from Tuesday's 197 billion yuan.

In a choppy day for mainland equities, both indices opened lower due to declines in property and banking stocks. Rallies within the coal, banking, insurance and property sectors provided enough fuel for the benchmarks to stage a rebound as the morning session drew to a close. The tenor changed again in the late afternoon though, as weakness among topical shares erased the earlier gains.

Real estate developers were hoisted after the Xinhua News Agency reported that the government was mulling policies to alleviate financing pressures on property firms. CRED Holdings Co jumped 8.37 percent to 7.90 yuan. Beijing Vantone Real Estate Co rose 1.24 percent to 3.26 yuan.

Shares related to electronics and technology found space to advance again Wednesday. Hangzhou Shunwang Technology Co cracked the 10-percent daily limit to 60.04 yuan.

Stocks tied to 4G wireless telecommunications notched some of the biggest jumps after news broke that the country's first batch of 4G licenses could be issued as early as September. Hengxin Mobile Business Co raced past the daily limit to 16.72 yuan. Hangzhou CNCR-IT Co tacked on 7.24 percent to 18.80 yuan.

In individual stocks, Datang International Power Generation Co gained 3.46 percent to 5.38 yuan after an earnings forecast issued late Tuesday called for a 70 to 80 percent increase in the company's first-half profits due to falling coal prices.