Stocks stay above 3,000-point level

Shanghai stocks retreated slightly on Wednesday from an earlier rally but remained above the 3,000-point level.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged down 0.18 percent to 3,017.04 points. The smaller Shenzhen Component Index shed 0.11 percent to 10,294.66 points, while the blue chip CSI300 index closed 0.22 percent lower at 4,032.78 points.

Turnover on the two major bourses added up to 668 billion yuan (US$95.48 billion), compared with the previous session's 751.6 billion yuan.

Overseas capital continued to flow into the A-share markets via Stock Connect schemes linking the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, posting net inflow reaching 4.48 billion yuan by the close of Wednesday, according to data from Wind Information.

Pharmaceutical shares led the drop, with Ovctek China Inc falling 5.35 percent while Joinn Laboratories China Co and Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products Co both lost over 4 percent.

Among petroleum and petrochemical firms, Guangzheng Group Co retreated 3.02 percent while three other firms posted declines of over 2 percent.

Stocks related to home textiles, batteries and ETC were all among big decliners.

The national defense and military industry, however, performed strongly, with Navtech Inc and YaGuang Technology Group Co both surging by the 10 percent daily cap, after China's first domestically-built aircraft carrier, named the Shandong, officially entered service on Tuesday.

On the STAR Market, all 66 listed companies posted gains.