BEIJING, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese stocks rallied Tuesday, with the key Shanghai index climbing for the sixth consecutive trading day to its highest level in more than two years.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.29 percent to 3,546.5 points, its highest level since December 31, 2015. The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.37 percent higher at 11,555.25 points.
Combined turnover on the two bourses stood at 521.5 billion yuan (about 81.5 billion U.S. dollars), expanding from 517.23 billion yuan the previous trading day.
Banking shares led the gains with a rise of over 3.6 percent. Wujiang Rural Commercial Bank, a small-cap company based in east China's Jiangsu Province, saw its shares up by the daily limit of 10 percent.
China Construction Bank rose 8.28 percent to 9.81 yuan per share, with stocks of China Everbright Bank and Bank of China surging by more than 5 percent.
The real estate and nonferrous metals sectors were also among the biggest winners, with Tianjin Guangyu Development Co., Ltd. and Baiyin Nonferrous Group Co., Ltd. leading to a surge by the daily 10-percent limit.
Bucking the trend, share prices of liquor makers and steel manufacturers fell. Gansu Huangtai Liquor lost 10.01 percent to 12.85 yuan per share, while Guangxi Liuzhou Iron and Steel Group Co., Ltd. dropped 2.61 percent to 7.45 yuan.
The ChiNext Index, tracking China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, lost 0.02 percent to end at 1,767.83 points Tuesday.
The International Monetary Fund raised its forecast for China's economic growth in 2018 amid upbeat outlooks from multiple global investment banks.
