China's benchmark index ended above the key 4000 level for the first time, amid a strong demand for blue-chip stocks that outweighed profit-taking pressure.
Other regional markets closed higher Wednesday, with Japanese markets gaining as investors sold NTT DoCoMo and other blue-chip stocks following a flat performance on Wall Street ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting on interest rates.
The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks both Class A and Class B shares, ended up 1.6% at 4013.09, an all-time high. The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 0.3% to 1111.29, also a record close.
The Shanghai index more than doubled last year and has risen another 50% so far this year, analysts said. Attracted by the strong performance of the stock market and the potential for high investment returns, retail investors have been pouring into the market in the past months.
Investors opened 4.79 million new Class A-share accounts in April, compared with 3.08 million for the whole of 2006, the state-run Shanghai Securities News reported Wednesday.
Large-capitalized blue chip Industrial & Commercial Bank of China rose 5.5% and Bank of China gained 7.8%. Baoshan Iron & Steel rose 4.7% and China Yangtze Power gained 2.9%.
source: Wall Street Journal
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