BEIJING, Oct. 8 -- Chinese stocks ended mixed Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index gaining 0.32 percent, or 6.81 points, to finish at 2,105.62.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed at 8,641.18, down 4.36 points, or 0.05 percent.

Combined turnover came in at 94.07 billion yuan (14.93 billion U.S. dollars) on the two bourses. Gainers outnumbered losers by 491 to 398 in Shanghai and by 905 to 533 in Shenzhen.

Shares headed lower during Wednesday's morning trading, although the trend was later reversed by the strong performance of oil, coal and banking shares.

The oil sector logged the day's biggest rises, tracking gains on New York's crude futures contracts.

Overnight, light, sweet crude for November delivery gained 24 cents, or 0.26 percent, to settle at 92.09 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Sinopec Corp., China's top oil refiner, moved up 1.8 percent to end the day at 6.23 yuan per share, while PetroChina rose 1.13 percent to 8.97 yuan.

Coal shares strengthened in afternoon trading, with the Shenhua Group Corporation up 1.72 percent to 23 yuan.

A majority of banking shares saw gains on Wednesday. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the country's largest commercial bank, edged up 0.79 percent to 3.85 yuan, while the China Merchants Bank rose 0.48 percent to 10.36 yuan per share.

Bucking the trend, insurance shares dropped, with China Life shedding 3.97 percent to 17.68 yuan.