Beijing, Sep 25 (IANS): Chinese shares closed lower on Friday as the country's slowing growth continued to weigh on market sentiment.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index went down 1.6 percent to end at 3,092.35 points, and the Shenzhen Component Index lost 3.26 percent to close at 9,904.76 points, Xinhua news agency reported.

Total turnover on the two bourses came in at 561.8 billion yuan ($88 billion), up from the 540 billion the previous trading day.

A preliminary Caixin survey showed the flash China general manufacturing PMI plunged to a 78-month low of 47.0 in September from 47.3 in August, pointing to prolonged weakness in the economy that renewed concerns about the country's growth prospects.

Rumours of IPO restarts in the morning session sent the stock down by 2.5 percent at one point, but it slightly recovered later after the securities association of China dismissed the news.

Securities shares fell across the board, with Citic Securities Co. and Guotai Junan Securities both down 3.4 percent to end the day at 13.3 yuan and 18.4 yuan, respectively.

The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, declined 4.06 percent to close at 2,020.97 points.