(Yicai Global) Feb. 26 -- Stock markets on the Chinese mainland closed mixed today, failing to maintain momentum picked up over the past two weeks as short-term investors cashed in on their gains.

The Shanghai Composite Index finished the day 0.67 percent lower at 2,941.52 after an afternoon high of  2995.68, the index's highest level since middle of June, while the Shenzhen Component Index lost 0.50 percent to 9,089.04 after touching a new seven-month high. The ChiNext Price Index, which tracks growth enterprises in Shenzhen, kept gaining to wind up 0.69 percent higher at 1,546.99, though it was up almost 3 percent just one hour before the close.

Profit taking was the main factor in the drops as investors sold off while the market was high, but buyers were keen to go long on the ChiNext smallcaps. Overall trading hit CNY1.09 trillion (USD163 billion), beating out yesterday's CNY1.04 trillion and laying down another new record since November 2015.

Stock markets in the world's second-largest economy have been booming since Feb. 11, when trading resumed after the week-long Chinese New Year holiday. The cumulative rise in each index was between 14.3 percent and 20.9 percent up until close yesterday, when all three indexes gained at least 5 percent on news from both China and the United States that the two nations could be nearing an end to their ongoing trade dispute

Of the roughly 3,600 active stocks, less than half finished today higher and the financial sector -- which led the way yesterday -- was one of the main laggards. Around 90 companies still managed to hit the 10 percent daily limit up, but that was a far cry from yesterday's 300.