China stocks dragged down by liquor shares

China stocks closed lower on Thursday, dragged down by liquor shares.

At close, the Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.57 percent at 3,363.11 points. The Shenzhen Component Index shed 0.71 percent to 13,915.57 points. The bluechip index CSI300 was down 0.14 percent at 5,000.02 points.

Following Wednesday’s slump, liquor shares suffered the biggest losses of the day. Jfinfo Securities expects the recent slump in the liquor sector may signal an upcoming adjustment in the sector.

Alibaba Group tumbled 8.9 percent in Hong Kong on the day after Beijing launched an anti-monopoly probe into the e-commerce and fintech empire.

The probe is part of an accelerating crackdown on monopolistic behaviour in China’s booming Internet space, and the latest setback for Alibaba founder Jack Ma.

Investors also dumped shares of Alibaba’s affiliates, as well as other Internet firms that risk being targeted by China’s anti-trust regulators.

Tencent and Internet services giant Meituan finished more than 2.6 percent lower.