NEW YORK, March 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S.-listed Chinese companies traded mostly lower on Thursday with nine 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 TAL Education and New Oriental declined 3.51 percent and 1.53 percent respectively, top two laggards in the top 10 stocks of the index.

Shares of Yum China added 0.34 percent, the only advancer in the top 10 stocks.

U.S. stocks closed mixed on Thursday as investors digested the latest economic data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 7.05 points, or 0.03 percent, to 25,709.94. The S&P 500 was down 2.44 points, or 0.09 percent, to 2,808.48. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 12.49 points, or 0.16 percent, to 7,630.91.

As of Wednesday, the S&P U.S. Listed China 50 index stood at 2,766.80, marking a 1.17-percent increase for the month-to-date returns and a 20.75-percent gain for the year-to-date returns.