Mainland stock markets continue to decline

Stock markets in the Chinese mainland continued to fall on Tuesday, amid a tightened trading volume.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slid for a sixth consecutive day, falling by 9.78 points or 0.45 percent to close at 2,151.08 points on Tuesday. The Shenzhen Component Index declined by 59.24 points or 0.72 percent to 8,213.43 points.

Combined turnover on the two bourses on Tuesday was 151.12 billion yuan ($24.89 billion), decreasing from Monday's 189.1 billion yuan.

Tuesday's weak market trend came despite Central Huijin Investment Ltd - which holds the central government's stakes in commercial banks, securities and insurance firms - boosting its stake in China's four biggest banks, in a move seen as a way to shore up market confidence.

Bank of China Ltd said Monday in a filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange that Central Huijin bought 113 million of its A-shares, but the bank's shares nudged down by 0.37 percent to 2.71 yuan Tuesday.

Home appliance makers led the fall on Tuesday, with the sector falling by 1.64 percent. Refrigerator maker Qingdao Haier Co fell by 7.07 percent to 18.92 yuan on Tuesday while Soymilk machine maker Joyoung Co slid 6.26 percent to 11.08 yuan.

In afternoon trading, national security-related stocks were boosted as Japan passed a new defense policy to further expand its military capacity, which is likely to increase regional tension with China.

Beijing Aerospace Changfeng Co jumped by 8.26 percent to 16.51 yuan and electronics manufacturer China Aviation Optical-Electrical Tech climbed 5.34 percent to 17.15 yuan on Tuesday.

ChiNext, China's NASDAQ-style board for high-tech and fast-growing start-ups listed in Shenzhen, closed down by 12.29 points or 0.96 percent at 1,267.67 points.