China's shares closed flat on Tuesday as investors booked profits, with the market wanting more government measures to bolster sentiment, brokers said. The benchmark Shanghai composite index, grouping foreign-currency B shares and local-currency A shares, ended up 0.03 percent at 1,370.389 points after gaining 1.32 percent on Monday. Shares in some large companies were in demand.
Wuhan Steel Processing Co Ltd, China's third-largest steel maker, rose 1.38 percent to 3.67 yuan.
"The index is set to ramp higher after having lingered near 1,300 points for a couple of months," said Shi Hong-lin, an analyst at Qinghai Securities.
The market staged a rebound on Monday after Beijing announced on Friday consumer prices had pulled back to their slowest pace of growth in six months in October, which analysts said reduced pressure to raise interest rates any time soon.
Last month, the central bank had raised interest rates for the first time in nine years.
Sentiment has remained weak in domestic markets in the wake of a seven-month slump, as investors await further market reform measures.
The benchmark index has shed nearly a quarter of its value since April.
Salt producer Inner Mongolia Lantai Industrial Co Ltd was the day's biggest loser on the Shanghai market. Its yuan-denominated A shares, open to select foreign investors, fell 7.26 percent to 5.75 yuan after rallying 20 percent over the past three weeks.
Yangtze Power, which oversees the giant Three Gorges Dam hydroelectric project, fell 1.36 percent to 9.40 yuan on Tuesday. Its share price had gained 15 percent in the past month.