1st LD-Writethru: Chinese shares close higher Friday

BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks closed higher on Friday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.72 percent to 3,832.26 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 2.21 percent higher at 13,578.93 points.

The combined turnover of stocks covered by these two indices stood at 2.54 trillion yuan (about 374.11 billion U.S. dollars), up from 2.34 trillion yuan on the previous trading day.

Electronic information, ceramics and medical device shares led the gains, while stocks related to finance, liquor, and pesticides and fertilizer, suffered notable losses.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, gained 3.06 percent to close at 3,343.96 points on Friday.

The STAR Composite Index, which reflects the performance of stocks on China's sci-tech innovation board, closed 3.69 percent higher on Friday at 1,819.9 points. Enditem