Investors also cashed out of large-caps after a recent rally.

Shanghai's hard currency B share index edged down 0.34 percent to 115.262 points while Shenzhen's inched down 0.33 percent to 213.98 points. B shares are open to Chinese and foreigners.

Shanghai-based Jinjiang Tower, a hotel and realty management service provider, was the biggest B share decliner in Shanghai with a 3.66 percent fall to US$0.50. The company issued a loss warning yesterday, blaming a tourism slump caused by the potentially fatal SARS virus.

"Punters were not optimistic about overall market trends over the next few months as the impact of SARS on China's economy has emerged," said analyst Zhang Li of Huatai Securities.

"They began to pocket profit in heavyweight counters that have rallied well since the beginning of this year," said Zhang.

Baoshan Iron & Steel Co, a unit of the country's largest steelmaker, was the most heavily traded in Shanghai and fell 1.8 percent to 5.40 yuan (US$0.65). It had risen nearly 35 percent since early January.

Oil major Sinopec Corp slid 0.8 percent to 3.84 yuan (US$0.46).

China United Telecommunications Corp, a unit of the smaller of the country's two wireless operators, edged down 0.3 percent to 3.23 yuan (US$0.39).

It said on Tuesday that its Hong Kong-listed unit China Unicom Ltd's CDMA subscribers totalled 8.58 million at the end of April, up from 8.025 million at the end of March.

Subscribers to its GSM network increased to 58.06 million at end-April from 56.88 million at the end of March.

The yuan-denominated Shanghai A share index fell 0.13 percent to 1,605.730 points while its Shenzhen counterpart edged down 0.09 percent to 448.50.

Analysts said a recent appeal by industry experts for the government to regulate banks acting as agents for brokerage asset management businesses triggered some concerns about strained liquidity, but had little impact on markets.

The benchmark Shanghai composite index, covering A and B shares, shed 0.13 percent to end at 1,533.483 points, while Shenzhen Composite Index fell 0.04 percent to 3394.14 points.

China's yuan closed two notches softer against the US dollar at its intraday low of 8.2770 yesterday as more importers sought dollars on the foreign exchange market, dealers said.

The yuan hovered in a slim band, hitting an intraday high of 8.2767, with turnover at US$580 million from US$658 million on Tuesday.

Dealers said the Chinese currency was likely to stay on the firm side of a tiny range of 8.2760 to 8.2800 set by the central People's Bank of China due to the country's trade surplus, which hit a slim US$100 million in the first four months of this year.

China has earned heavy trade surpluses over the past few years, placing the yuan on a solid track.

The yuan weakened to 7.0925 to 100 Japanese yen from 7.0631 and softened against the euro to 9.6976 from 9.6540. It closed two notches stronger against the Hong Kong dollar at 1.0609.

(China Daily May 22, 2003)