It was a mixed day for Chinese shares Tuesday as financial heavyweights lifted the benchmark Shanghai index out of negative territory before the trading bell closed markets for the day.
The Shanghai Composite Index closed at 2,864.37 points, up 0.17 percent while the smaller Shenzhen index closed 0.94 percent lower at 9,574.19 points.
The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, ended 1.3 percent lower to close at 1,996.92 points.
Total turnover on the two bourses shrank sharply to 427.9 billion yuan (65.75 billion U.S. dollars) from Monday's 503.99 billion yuan.
The benchmark Shanghai index fluctuated in negative territory most of the day before bouncing back at closing thanks to banking, insurance, and infrastructure shares.
The banking sector recovered losses seen on Monday, with Bank of Beijing, Bank of Communications, and Industrial Bank rising more than 2.5 percent within the last hour of trading.
Shares of major insurer China Life Insurance ended 6.34 percent higher after jumping from negative territory in the last hour.
Shares related to gold were among the biggest losers with Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining losing 9.65 percent.
Tuesday's gain in the Shanghai index marked the third-consecutive day of a winning streak, boosted partly by regulators' assurance on government bailout funds and signs of improvement in many economic indicators.
The upward momentum will only continue with the support of growing trading volume, said Western Securities. Trading was thin last week with total turnover on the two bourses once hitting a yearly low of 304.11 billion yuan.
Economic data in the first two months showed strength in China's real estate investment, signaling that pro-growth measures are taking effect, said investment bank CICC in a report.
In the short term, the market will rebound mildly with fluctuations, according to CICC.
