Mainland stock exchanges suffer muted performance

Stock markets in the Chinese mainland saw muted performance Tuesday.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index inched up by 5.21 points or 0.26 percent to 2,038.51 points on Tuesday. The Shenzhen Component Index declined by 11.79 points or 0.15 percent to 7,740.75 points.

Combined turnover on the two bourses on Tuesday was 176.76 billion yuan ($29.21 billion), down from Monday's 219.25 billion yuan.

On Tuesday, recently listed small cap firms, as well as firms linked to bird flu treatment and the Shanghai free trade zone outperformed.

Due to reports of human cases of H7N9 infections in several provinces, the central government has banned live fowl trading in some areas, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Stocks linked to H7N9 treatments gained on Tuesday. Guilin Layn Natural Ingredients Corp jumped by the daily limit of 10 percent to 19.38 yuan.

Investors also kept buying shares in newly listed companies on Tuesday. Beijing Utour International Travel Service Co and Simei Media Co, both of which began trading in Shenzhen on Thursday, continued climbing and rose by the daily limit of 10 percent on Tuesday.

Nine companies started trading for the first time in mainland stock exchanges on Tuesday, with eight of them listed in Shenzhen. All the Shenzhen-listed firms, including Beijing Tongtech Co, rose by more than 44 percent from their IPO price.

The only company that floated in Shanghai on Tuesday, Shaanxi Coal Industry Co, rose by 13.75 percent from its IPO price to 4.55 yuan.

ChiNext, China's NASDAQ-style board for high-tech and fast-growing start-ups listed in Shenzhen, fell by 6.33 points or 0.43 percent to 1,471.34.