Chinese shares end mixed ahead of holiday

Chinese shares ended mixed on Wednesday ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday from Thursday to Saturday.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.29 percent, or 6.29 points, to finish at 2,191.85. The Shenzhen Component Index lost 0.15 percent, or 13.04 points, to finish at 8,480.74.

Combined turnover on the two bourses shrank to 194.06 billion yuan (31.50 billion US dollars) from 239.9 billion yuan the previous trading day.

Home prices continued to rise in most Chinese cities in August. Of a statistical pool of 70 major Chinese cities, 66 saw a month-on-month rise in new home prices, up from 62 in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

China Vanke Co., the nation's biggest listed property developer, edged up 0.31 percent to 9.63 yuan per share. Poly Real Estate Group Co. moved up 0.66 percent to 10.66 yuan per share.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the nation's biggest lender, went down 0.51 percent to 3.91 yuan per share. China Construction Bank Corp., another bank heavyweight, went up 0.23 percent to 4.41 yuan per share.