Apr. 9, 2008 (China Knowledge) - Chinese shares closed slightly higher on Tuesday as they went through corrections in the afternoon session after enjoying a big jump on Monday. Securities stocks acted as the market pusher yesterday.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A shares and B shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, edged up 0.36% or 12.92 to 3,612.54 points after fluctuating between 3,656.96 and 3,563.85 points.

Similarly, the Shenzhen Component Index on the smaller Shenzhen Stock Exchange moved up 1.46% or 196.03 points to 13,592.64 points after touching an intraday high of 13,735.79 points.

The combined turnover on the two bourses expanded to RMB 136.3 billion from RMB 127.65 billion of the previous trading day.

Brokerages kept the momentum of previous gains, and remained the major force boosting the index. Sinolink Securities<600109> rose by the daily trading limit of 10% to close at RMB 29.71, gaining 26% in three days. CITIC Securities Co<600030> also gained 1.19% to RMB 57.68.

Heavy weight stocks weakened on profit taking. Among the top 10 heavy weights, only two saw a rise. Aluminum Corp of China (Chalco)<601600><2600><ACH>, added 0.7% to RMB 23.17. China Shenhua Energy Co<601088><1088>, the nation's biggest coal producer, edged up 0.43% to RMB 44.48. The largest oil refiner Sinopec<600028><386><SNP>, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China<601398><1398>, the biggest lender, and Ping An Insurance<601318><2318> all dropped more than 1% to RMB 12.75, RMB 6.3 and RMB 61.45 respectively.

As a whole, gainers outweighed losers by 720 to 108 in Shanghai and 551 to 108 in Shenzhen.