Chinese shares close down 0.90%

Chinese shares closed down 0.90 percent on Monday after data showed a higher-than-expected rise in inflation for March, dealers said. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B shares, ended down 20.77 points at 2,285.78 on turnover of 55.1 billion yuan ($8.7 billion). China's consumer price index -- the main measure of inflation -- hit 3.6 percent in March, official data showed, up from 3.2 percent in February and higher than market expectations of around 3.3 percent. "Sentiment was hurt by China's March inflation figure. The market is likely to undergo a correction on worries over key economic figures," Zhang Yanbin, an analyst at Zheshang Securities, told AFP. The government is scheduled to release its gross domestic product figure for the first quarter and main economic indicators for March on Friday. Banking shares fell across the board after the industry regulator said last week that it had started investigating banks' fee-based business and threatened punishment of those charging high fees. Hua Xia Bank lost 2.58 percent to 10.59 yuan, Citic Bank fell 2.33 percent to 4.19 yuan and Minsheng Bank slid 1.59 percent to 6.18 yuan. Property stocks were lower on concerns over developers' first-quarter earnings as the government has shown little sign of easing measures aimed at bringing down home prices. China Enterprise dropped 3.13 percent to 4.65 yuan, Zhejiang Guangsha fell 2.80 percent to 4.16 yuan and Gemdale lost 1.97 percent to 5.96 yuan.