BEIJING, Oct. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese equities closed mixed Monday with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rising 1.72 points, or 0.06 percent, to end at 3,109.57, while the Shenzhen Component Index dropped 27.95 points, or 0.22 percent, to close at 12,815.26.

    Combined turnover shrank to 218.72 billion yuan (32.02 billion U.S. dollars) from 254.60 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

    Losers outnumbered gainers by 479 to 382 in Shanghai and 394 to364 in Shenzhen.

    Bio-pharmaceutical companies led the rise, going up 2.71 percent followed by Monday's declaration by U.S. President Barack Obama that the H1N1 outbreak was a national emergency.

    Steel price in China bounced 2.1 percent last week after tumbling for two months, pushing up the steel stocks by 0.95 percent.

    Laigang Group surged 5.36 percent to 13.17 yuan, while Baoshan Iron & Steel, the nation's top steel maker, rose 0.42 percent to 7.25 yuan.

    Airlines stocks gained as the market expected Chinese carriers to report better performances in the third quarter, a traditional peak season for the aviation industry.

    China Southern shares rose 1.09 percent, China Eastern was up 1.57 percent and Air China saw a rise of 0.24 percent.

    Among the heavy weights, Petro China, the country's largest oil producer, declined 0.8 percent to 13.72 yuan. Sinopec, Asia's top oil refiner, dropped by 0.66 percent to 12.11 yuan.

    The banking sector declined 0.42 percent, with Bank of China, the central bank, dropping 0.24 percent to 4.14 yuan.

    The real estate sector lost 0.46 percent. Shares of Poly Real Estate Group Co., the country's second-largest developer by market value, dipped by 0.72 percent to 27.49 yuan.