Chinese stock markets closed marginally higher on Tuesday after four consecutive growth.

The Composite Stock Index on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, which comprises yuan-denominated A shares and foreign-currency B shares, closed at 1,657.29 points, up by 8.57 points, or 0.53 percent. Total turnover was 32.2 billion yuan (4.02 billion U.S. dollars).

The major index of Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the Shenzhen Component Index, was up 0.49 percent to close at 4,348.74 points, with a total turnover of 20.7 billion yuan.

Prices of 751 shares were up with those of 50 shares staying at previous levels while the prices of 363 shares were down.

Share prices of companies specialized in transportation, non-ferrous metals production and tourism grew by over 4 percent.

Share prices of real estate firms were up by nearly 2 percent on average despite new policies made public on Monday to curb speculation in the sector to stabilize housing prices.

But major bluechips, such as Sinopec, Baosteel, telecommunications giant Unicom, and Yangtze Hydroelectric Power Corp, were down by up to 2 percent, which, analysts said, weakened the confidence of investors.

Source: Xinhua