Chinese shares closed lower Thursday, led by coal and nonferrous metal stocks.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.42 percent to close at 3,261.75 points, while the Shenzhen Component Index fell 0.61 percent to 10,480.64 points.

Trading volume on the two bourses expanded to 524 billion yuan (about 78.5 billion U.S. dollars) from 497 billion yuan Wednesday.

The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style enterprises, slipped 0.53 percent to close at 1753.67 points.

Coal firms experienced the largest drops. China Coal Energy shed 3.63 percent to 6.63 yuan, while Shanxi Coal International Energy Group lost 4.38 percent to 6.12 yuan.

Nonferrous metal stocks also declined. Aluminum Corporation of China Ltd. went down 4.32 percent to 7.31 yuan. Jiangxi Copper dipped 4.3 percent to close at 19.61 yuan.

Liquor makers bucked the trend. Kweichow Moutai rose 0.16 percent to 491.63 yuan. Anhui Golden Seed Winery soared by the daily limit of 10 percent to 9.7 yuan.