China's main stock index came sharply off the day's highs on Wednesday to close slightly higher, underperforming foreign markets because of concern about slowing economic growth and huge supplies of fresh equity.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index surged as much as 4.07 percent at one stage in response to the strength of overseas markets and an expression of support for the Chinese market by the cabinet. But the index retreated in the late afternoon to finish at 3,347.882 points, up just 0.56 percent from Tuesday's 11-month closing low. Falling Shanghai stocks outnumbered gainers by 804 to 90.
Turnover in Shanghai A shares remained moderate at 86.2 billion yuan ($12.3 billion), though it was up from Tuesday's 72.8 billion yuan. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, the nation's biggest bank, closed 3.33 percent higher at 6.20 yuan. Ping An Insurance, which had plunged almost two-thirds from its peak, partly because of its multi-billion dollar fund-raising plan, surged 6.56 percent to 56.85 yuan. The market's biggest stock, PetroChina, ended 1.96 percent higher at 17.16 yuan after hitting a high of 17.50 yuan.