BEIJING - Chinese stocks closed lower on Tuesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 0.83 percent, at 3,414.62 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 1.08 percent lower at 13,996.46 points.

The combined turnover of stocks covered by the two indices expanded to a total of 1.7 trillion yuan (about 242.87 billion U.S. dollars), up from 1.67 trillion yuan on the previous trading day.

Losers outnumbered gainers 970 to 509 on the Shanghai bourse and 1,393 to 788 in Shenzhen.

Shares related to military defense, nuclear power and pork led the gains, with shares of the CSSC Offshore & Marine Engineering (Group) Company Limited in the military sector surging by the daily limit of 10 percent to 30.65 yuan.

Companies in the duty-free stores and retail sectors led the losses.

The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, lost 1.06 percent to close at 2,858.67 points Tuesday.