China's main share index ended slightly lower on Tuesday with most investors reluctant to stake out fresh positions ahead of the year-end holidays, but mainland stocks looked set to end 2014 with world-beating gains of nearly 50 percent. Traders said investors were still bargain-shopping among bluechips and selling small caps. The CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen rose 0.1 percent, to 3,457.55 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index ended slightly lower at 3,165.81 points.
Among the most active stocks in Shanghai were Bank Of China , up 2.3 percent at 3.94 yuan; Everbright Bank , up 8.0 percent at 4.85 yuan and China State Construction engineering , down 1.4 percent at 7.18 yuan. In Shenzhen, China Vanke, up 1.7 percent to 12.64 yuan; BOE Technology, down 2.1 percent to 3.30 yuan and Changjiang Securities, up 0.7 percent to 16.72 yuan, were among the most actively traded. Barring a last-minute crash, Shanghai is set to be the world's best performing major exchange in 2014, up around 50 percent for the year. Argentina's Merval index has gained about 57 percent, but it is far smaller.