China stocks drop after money supply data

The benchmark Chinese stock index closed 0.17 percent lower on Wednesday with financial shares leading declines after central bank data showed money supply growth slowed last year.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index went down 0.17 percent, or 3.49 points, to finish at 2,023.35. The Shenzhen Component Index gained 0.04 percent, or 3.03 points, to close at 7,668.80.

Combined turnover of the two bourses expanded to 155.20 billion yuan (25.44 billion U.S. dollars) from 146.4 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

Data from the central bank showed the country's lending in 2013 moderated and growth of broad money supply eased, triggering fears that credit tapering will continue in 2014.

The broad measure of money supply (M2), which covers cash in circulation and all deposits, jumped 13.6 percent in 2013, growing 0.2 percentage points less than in 2012, the central bank figures showed.

Huaxia Bank declined 2.44 percent to 8.01 yuan per share. China Citic Bank lost 2.41 percent to 3.64 yuan per share and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank decreased 1.81 percent to 9.23 yuan per share. A total of 12 bank or brokerage shares fell by more than one percent.

The alcohol sector was also weak after the Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday stressed that the anti-graft fight is vital for the Party's integrity in the long term, promising to seriously punish every corrupt official being caught.

Kweichow Moutai Co., China's top liquor brand, sank 2.10 percent and Wuliangye, another industry leader, lost 1.90 percent.

Bucking the trend, the ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, surged 1.03 percent, or 14.41 points, to end at 1,415.32 points on Wednesday.