1st LD-Writethru: Chinese Shares Close Higher Friday

BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) — Chinese stocks closed higher on Friday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.2 percent to 2,854.37 points. The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.24 percent higher at 8,181.92 points. The combined turnover of stocks covered by the two indices stood at 510.22 billion yuan (about 71.5 billion U.S. dollars), down from 549.15 billion yuan recorded on the previous trading day. Shares in the brown goods sector led the gains, while the solid state battery and biological products sectors were among those suffering major losses. The ChiNext Index, tracking China’s Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, gained 0.02 percent to close at 1,546.9 points.