BEIJING, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks closed lower on Tuesday, snapping a gaining streak that lasted three days, as banks and aviation stocks weakened.

    The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B shares, eased 0.73 percent to 3,733.50 points on Tuesday. The Shenzhen Component Index shed 1.14 percent to 13,702.56 points.

    Aggregate turnover was 210.24 billion yuan (30.03 billion U.S. dollars).

    People's Bank of China (PBOC, the central bank) governor Zhou Xiaochuan said in Brussels on Monday that inflation would ease in the second quarter but the full-year trend remained uncertain. There was still a possibility for further interest rate increases, Zhou said.

    Financial shares were hurt by renewed concerns about further monetary tightening and banks fell across the board. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country's biggest lender, slid 2.55 percent to 6.49 yuan. Bank of Communications lost 3.16 percent to 10.41 yuan.

    However, brokerage shares gained, with many rising by the daily10-percent limit, boosted by prospects that the government would introduce margin financing and short-selling, which would allow investors to borrow from brokerage firms for their trades, a CITIC Securities analyst said.

    Shares of airlines slumped on concern about their profitability after international crude oil prices surpassed a record of 120 U.S. dollars a barrel, market analysts said.

    The country's top three airlines -- Air China, China Eastern Airliners and China Southern Airliners -- all fell more than 4 percent.