A strong rally by banking shares before the closing pushed China stock prices up by 1.97 percent Thursday.

The increase came after the government's stimulus plan for the real estate sector failed to bolster the market in the earlier session.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index finished the day at 2,015.69 points, up 38.88 points, to reverse a retreat of 0.66 percent in morning trade. The smaller Shenzhen Component Index advanced 125.6 points, or 1.72 percent, to 7,412.47.

The combined turnover in Shanghai and Shenzhen reached 99.49 billion yuan (14.6 billion U.S. dollars), slightly lower than a heavy trading of 104.74 billion yuan registered on the previous day.

Investor confidence got a boost as banking shares began to shoot up almost within an hour before the closing as a result of strong buying.

The banking sector surged 4.97 percent at closing, with Shanghai Pudong Development Bank up the most, 7.46 percent to 14.83 yuan. The heavy-weighted Industrial and Commercial Bank of China went up 2.12 percent to 3.86 yuan and the Bank of China rose 1.91 percent to 3.2 yuan.

Strong buying was prompted by hopes that rumors of slashing the business tax of lenders may be materialized soon, analysts said.

Property shares edged up by 0.96 percent though policies were released late Wednesday to reduce taxes on house transactions.

China Vanke, a leading property developer, rose 3.03 percent to 7.81 yuan and China Merchants Property Development gained 0.33 percent to 15.42 yuan.

Gainers overwhelmingly outnumbered losers on both markets, with 739 to 111 in Shanghai and 620 to 104 in Shenzhen.

Regional markets posted modest gains Thursday, with prices up 0.64 percent in Tokyo and 0.24 percent in Hong Kong.

(Xinhua News Agency December 18, 2008)