Beijing - Chinese shares dropped 2.94 per cent on Wednesday despite a massive rally on Wall Street overnight.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 52 points, or 2.94 per cent, to close at 1,719.81.

The Shenzhen index dropped 92.46 points, or 1.57 per cent, to close at 5,798.67 points.

Losers outnumbered gainers by 734 to 78 in Shanghai and 556 to 123 in Shenzhen. The combined turnover shrank to 50.06 billion yuan (7.15 billion dollars), from Tuesday's 56.57 billion yuan. (dpa)