Compiled by Caijing staff

(Caijing.com.cn) Insurers, banks and retailers posted strong gains on Tuesday, pushing the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 1.52 percent to 3,084.45 points.

Robust earnings and an upbeat economic outlook continued to boost turnover in Shanghai, which reached 170.7 billion yuan, against a five-day average of 135.9 billion yuan. Gainers led losers five to one.

The Shenzhen Component Index rose 1.55 percent to 12,676.24 points, with gainers leading losers 11 to two. Turnover was about 99.5 billion yuan, compared with the five-day average of 78.9 billion yuan.

Insurers were among the biggest gainers, after the China Insurance Regulatory Commission said they were estimated to have achieved an aggregate profit of 39.2 billion yuan in the first nine months, compared with losses of 6.6 billion yuan a year earlier.

China Life Insurance (SSE: 601628) led the sector, rising 3.39 percent to 30.52 yuan.

Banks also rose, led by China Merchants Bank (SSE: 600036), which rallied 4.69 percent to 16.73 yuan, after saying shareholders approved on Monday a plan to raise up to 22 billion yuan via a rights issue.

Hunan province-based department store operator Your-Mart Co. (SZSE: 002277) rose 2.23 percent to 31.15 yuan, after reporting Tuesday its net profit in the first nine months rose 17.99 percent year-on-year to 123.9 million yuan.

China Oilfield Services Ltd. (SSE: 601808) rose 2.02 percent to 15.11 yuan, after Nymex crude oil futures for November delivery rose for an eighth straight day on Monday, gaining 1.38 percent to a one-year high of US$79.61 per barrel.

Shandong Gold Mining (SSE: 600547) rose 2.49 percent to 71.62 yuan, after Luan Guiyong, deputy manager of the company's Xincheng Gold Mine unit, said output was expected to exceed 20 tons this year, compared with 15.5 tons in 2008.

Ocean shippers gained after the Baltic Dry Index, which tracks international shipping rates of raw materials, rose 1.39 percent to 2,766.

Cosco Shipping Co. (SSE: 600428), an international carrier specializing in transporting oversized and super-heavy cargoes and other special requirement cargoes, gained 3.38 percent to 11.02 yuan.

Automakers were boosted after the official Xinhua news agency reported that domestic vehicle output hit 10 million units as of Tuesday, making China the third country, after the United States and Japan, to reach that number in one year.

Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co. (SSE: 600418) was the biggest gainer in the sector, rising 8.09 percent to 10.42 yuan.

"This rally is very likely to continue, amid robust earnings and positive economic expectations," said Zhou Yu, an analyst at Pacific Securities in Beijing. "But we still need a few trading days to decide whether it's really sustainable." 

Citic Securities said in a report Tuesday that "the market will likely rise but be volatile at the same time" and "insurance, banking and real estate stocks will directly benefit from the economic recovery."

1 yuan = 14 U.S.cents