Chinese shares closed slightly higher Tuesday, extending Monday's rally to close at a new four-month high. ( The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.12 percent, or 3.73 points, to end at 2,999.94, approaching the key 3,000 mark.
The Shenzhen Component Index edged up 0.03 percent, or 3.3 points, to close at 13,144.18 points.
Further, combined turnover shrank to 291.1 billion yuan (44.32 billion U.S. dollars) compared with Monday's 347.1 billion yuan.
In Shanghai and Shenzhen together, gainers outnumbered losers by 1,253 to 909.
Xiangcai Securities analyst Qi Dapeng said investors were confident, though concerns over new tightening measures might be launched at any time continued to weigh on the markets.
"Slight gains were mainly the results of profit-taking moves. Shares fluctuated within narrow ranges between the day's high of 3,001.62 points and the day's low at 2976.6 points," he said.
Also, shares of medicine manufacturers gained after the country announced it would cut retail prices of 162 medicines on Monday.
Guangzhou Baiyunshan Pharmaceutical surged 5.88 percent to end at 19.26 yuan while Zhejiang NHU Co. Ltd., the country's leading vitamin manufacturer, gained 8.54 percent to close at 28.98 yuan.
Minmetals Development Co., the country's largest metals trader, surged 5.58 percent to 36.17 yuan on speculation that it would benefit from soaring global iron ore prices.
China Vanke, the country's largest real estate developer, gained 1.79 percent to 8.53 yuan after posting a 36.65-percent increase in its 2010 net profit on Monday night.
Jiangxi Special Electric Motor and Henan Yinge Industrial Investment Holding both rose by the daily limit of 10 percent.
Shares of cement producers declined with Huaxin Cement Co., Ltd. losing 2.94 percent to close at 43.59 yuan.
