BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks closed lower on Wednesday as weak performances by heavyweights, including insurance and banking, pulled down the market.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.71 percent to end at 3,169.57 points, and the Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.43 percent lower at 10,701.32 points.

Combined turnover on the two bourses stood at around 401.9 billion yuan (about 63 billion U.S. dollars).

Data on Wednesday showed housing prices stayed stable in major Chinese cities in April as the government continued tough purchase restrictions.

New residential housing prices declined in seven of the 15 major cities monitored by the government in April compared with March, while the eight other cities posted slight month-on-month growth.

Leading property developer China Vanke lost 1.87 percent to close at 27.23 yuan per share, while Poly Real Estate Group closed at 13.65 yuan per share, down 2.22 percent.

Stocks related to Foxconn retreated after a strong rally in previous days following the tech giant's prospectus revealing its plan to issue 1.97 billion shares in an initial public offering (IPO) in the A-share market.

Henan Ancai High-tech Co. fell 3.21 percent to 8.75 yuan per share, and Shenzhen Cotran New Material Co., Ltd. closed 1.84 percent lower at 37.31 yuan.

The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, went down 0.61 percent to close at 1,846.67 points Wednesday.