Apr. 23, 2008 (China Knowledge) - Chinese shares narrowly evaded to see a gain on Tuesday with the Shanghai key index once dropped below 3,000 points at a time amid weak investor sentiment.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A shares and B shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, edged up 0.99% or 30.82 to 3,147.79 points after fluctuating between 3,148.73 and 2,990.79 points.

Similarly, the Shenzhen Component Index on the smaller Shenzhen Stock Exchange moved up 0.73% or 80.44 points to 11,174.77 points after touching an intraday low of 10,586.36 points.

The combined turnover on the two bourses saw a noticeable decrease to RMB 86.6 billion from RMB 115.7 billion of the previous trading day.

Stocks in financial sector acted as the major pusher for the market rise led by brokerages and banks. Pacific Securities Co<601099> and Bank of Beijing<601169> both enjoyed a daily limit jump of 10% to end at RMB 24.3 and RMB 14.78 respectively. Other city commercial banks also made a pleasing performance. Bank of Nanjing<601009> rose 8% to RMB 15.12. Bank of Ningbo<002142> surged 7.5% to RMB 13.19.

Steel makers outperformed yesterday. Wuhan Steel Processing Co<600005> soared 9.01% to RMB 13.07.  Handan Iron & Steel Co<600001> gained 6.03% to RMB 5.98. Angang Steel Co Ltd<000898><347> rose 2.65% to RMB 17.45.

Most heavy weights on mainland bourses enjoyed gains. China Merchants Bank<600036><3968> added 3.25% to RMB 31.11. Bank of Communications<601328><3328> climbed 4.06% to RMB 9.74. And China COSCO<601919><1919> jumped by the daily cap of 10% to RMB 25.44.

As a whole, winners outweighed losers by 545 to 277 in Shanghai and 473 to 180 in Shenzhen.