Chinese equities fell at midday Thursday on concerns that the imminent initial public offering (IPO) of the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) may drain liquidity from the volatile market, pushing down share prices of other listed banks.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed the morning session at 2,568.35 points, down 0.06 percent.

The Shenzhen Component Index was down 0.19 percent to end at 10,219.82.

The rural lender, which planned to raise as much as 28 billion U.S. dollars by a dual IPO in Shanghai and Hong Kong, launched the IPO road show Thursday to promote its shares to prospective investors.

The lender said in a statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange late Wednesday it would sell up to 54.8 billion shares on the two markets if overallotment options are fully exercised.

The bank would announce the IPO price range on June 29 and the final IPO price for its Shanghai listing on July 7.