China stocks fall on liquidity withdrawal

Chinese shares fell on Tuesday after the country's central bank launched forward repurchase operations to withdraw liquidity.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged down 0.77 percent, or 16.35 points, to finish at 2,119.07. The Shenzhen Component Index lost 1.4 percent, or 111.49 points, to close at 7,832.47.

Combined turnover on the two bourses expanded to 318.54 billion yuan(52.16 U.S. dollars) from 310.37 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

On Tuesday, the People's Bank of China announced it would issue 14-day forward repurchase agreements for the first time in eight months, which will draw 48 billion yuan from the money market.

The move is expected to restrain the growth rate of the new yuan-denominated lending, which soared 246.9 percent year on year to reach 1.32 trillion yuan in January despite analysts' forecasts of shrinking loan growth.

Brokerage firms led the decline. China Merchant Securities lost 4.37 percent to close at 11.59 yuan per share, while Everbright Securities went down 2.55 percent to finish at 8.41 yuan per share.

Liquor producers also suffered, dragged down by lackluster performance in the last year. Anhui Gujing Distillery Company tumbled 4.22 percent to finish at 23.4 yuan per share, while Sichuan Swellfun closed at 9.37 yuan per share, down 2.7 percent from the previous trading day.

Bucking the trend, shares related to the free trade area in north China's Tianjin Municipality surged. Tianjin Marine Shipping jumped by the 10-percent daily limit to 7.15 yuan per share.

The ChiNext Index, a Nasdaq-style board tracking China's growth enterprises, lost 0.85 percent, or 13.28 points, to end at 1,545.34 points on Tuesday.