Most mainland stocks fell on speculation this year's rally has outstripped the prospects for earnings growth with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index trading at the most expensive relative to earnings in 15 months.

Jiangxi Copper Co, the country's biggest producer of the metal, slid 1.7 percent after more than doubling this year and Aluminum Corp of China Ltd dropped 2.4 percent.

China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co rallied 6.4 percent after the Shanghai Securities News said the company may list shares publicly in Hong Kong next year.