U.S.-listed Chinese firms trade mostly lower

NEW YORK, March 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded mostly lower on Thursday with six of the top 10 stocks by weight in the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index ending the day on a downbeat note.

Shares of Pinduoduo and JD.com dipped 9.03 percent and 4.31 percent, respectively, leading the laggards in the top 10 stocks in the index.

Shares of BeiGene and XPeng climbed 8.07 percent and 0.62 percent, respectively, leading the gainers in the top 10 stocks.

U.S. stocks advanced on Thursday, buoyed by overall strength in the tech names.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 349.44 points, or 1.02 percent, to 34,707.94. The S&P 500 added 63.92 points, or 1.43 percent, to 4,520.16. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 269.24 points, or 1.93 percent, to 14,191.84.

The Cboe Volatility Index, widely considered as the best fear gauge in the stock market, slid 8.06 percent to 21.67.

As of Wednesday, the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index, which is designed to track the performance of the 50 largest Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges by total market cap, stood at 2,575.60, marking a 4.22-percent slide for the month-to-date returns and a 13.53-percent loss for the year-to-date returns.