Most Chinese shares fell on Thursday as investors took profits in many industrial and second-tier stocks, but surging banks and other blue chips, such as oil refiner Sinopec, boosted the main index to a new record. The Shanghai Composite Index ended up 2.46 percent to 5,913.230 points, just off an all-time, intra-day high of 5,914.772 hit in the last few minutes of trade.
But falling Shanghai stocks overwhelmed gainers by 644 to 214. Turnover in Shanghai A shares expanded to a one-month high of 176.2 billion yuan ($23.5 billion) from Wednesday's 164.4 billion yuan.
Investors were reluctant to push up most sectors because of concern about further tightening of economic policy, and with the index near 6,000 points, which is considered major resistance. On Wednesday, the index's sharp pull-back from its intra-day record high suggested to some investors that a downward consolidation might be starting.
Minsheng Bank estimated late on Wednesday that net profit in the first nine months of this year rose about 70 percent, fuelling expectations of strong earnings throughout the sector. Its shares jumped 4.20 percent to 17.38 yuan on Thursday.
Industrial Bank surged 6.89 percent to 65.14 yuan after saying it had obtained regulatory approval to buy a small financial institution in the northern city of Harbin.
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, the biggest bank, climbed 2.64 percent to 7.79 yuan, bringing its gains so far this week to 18 percent. Sinopec surged its 10 percent daily limit to 21.75 yuan. The stock's firmness on Wednesday, when 4.92 billion of its A shares became freely tradable after the expiration of a lock-up period related to reform of its state shareholding system, encouraged investors.
Aluminium Corp of China, which had essentially been flat for the past month, soared 5.62 percent to 56.00 yuan following Wednesday's 10 percent surge. Top coal producer Shenhua Energy, which soared 87 percent in its debut on Tuesday, jumped 10 percent for the second straight day, to 83.85 yuan.