Chinese shares retreated Thursday as investors took a wait-and-see attitude ahead of an 8-day trading suspension due to the upcoming holidays starting on Oct. 1.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.17 percent to finish at 3,339.64 points. The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.05 percent lower at 11,031.42 points.

The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, inched down 0.01 percent to 1,854.73 points.

Steel, real estate and coal sectors led the declines, while distilled spirits, automobiles, and hotel and catering industries outperformed most of the shares.

Transactions were slightly up. Total turnover on the two bourses stood at more than 441 billion yuan (around 65 billion U.S. dollars), up from 418.19 billion yuan on the previous trading day.