Benchmark ends higher after volatile swings on bourses

Stock prices posted marginal gains on Tuesday as a rally in the technology, Internet and logistics sectors kept the buying interest active.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index opened 0.6 percent lower in the morning at 3,409.14 points amid selling pressure after Monday's gains, but made an about-turn in the afternoon and closed 0.14 percent higher at 3,434.34 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index opened 0.6 percent lower at 11,588.94 points, started to gain before noon and closed at 11,758.41 points, a 0.6 percent gain.

The diverse outlooks among investors for the long-term performance of various sectors clouded market sentiment, analysts said.

On the positive side, the benefits of the central bank's rate cuts and removal of caps on interest rates have been gradually profiting the stock market and the real economy alike, according to a research note by Shanghai-based Haitong Securities Co.

However, sluggish growth has narrowed profit margins for many sectors and lower-than-expected data have become a matter of concern, especially after economic growth slipped to its lowest level since 2009 in the third quarter.

"Recent events have tended to illustrate the scale of the task confronting the authorities in managing the policy trade-offs involved in structural rebalancing," said Jenny Shi, managing director and country manager for China at global credit ratings agency Moody's Investors Service.

China needs to engineer economic restructuring, policy reform, market liberalization, and slower credit uptake with the aim of shifting economic growth drivers away from State-led investment, without sacrificing short-term macroeconomic stability, which is a re-balancing challenge, according to Moody's.

More than 500 companies listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen had released their third-quarter results or result forecasts by Tuesday, among which more than half reported gains, according to data from China Galaxy Securities.

Firms in the retail and textile sectors reported positive cash flows, showing signs of recovery in the third quarter after a tough period, said a report in the Securities Times.

Most of the other Asian bourses dropped slightly on Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.9 percent, closing at 18,777.04 points while South Korea's KOSPI dropped 0.17 percent, closing at 2,044.65 points.