Chinese shares close down 2.52% on weak confidence

BEIJING, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese shares sank on Monday's trading on weak confidence, with heavyweights, particularly PetroChina and Sinopec, leading the downward adjustment.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 2.52 percent, or 72.32 points, to 2,760.42 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index went down 1.44 percent, or 134.83 points, to 9,238.86 points.

Combined turnover on the two bourses shrank drastically to 64.49 billion yuan (9.2 billion U.S. dollars) on Monday, down from 113.81 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

BEIJING, June 23 -- China's central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said "stronger policies" may be in the pipeline to tackle inflation exacerbated by the government's latest fuel-price increases.

"Surely higher energy prices will send some pressure to the consumer price index, so we may have stronger policies against inflation," Zhou told reporters in New York last Friday before a meeting with United States business groups. But Zhou didn't elaborate.