BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Chinese shares continued to rally Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai index climbing for the seventh straight day, reaching new highs in more than two years.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.37 percent to close at 3,559.47 points while the Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.45 percent higher at 11,607.57 points.
Combined turnover on the two bourses reached 600.7 billion yuan (about 94 billion U.S. dollars), expanding from 521.5 billion yuan the previous trading day.
China's stock market had a red hot start this year, with the Shanghai index closing slightly lower for only one day in January.
The sentiment was helped by strong economic fundamentals, as the country reported better-than-expected GDP growth for 2017.
Blue chip shares with large market capitalization and growth companies with surging profits were among the biggest winners.
Financial shares maintained the strong momentum seen in the previous trading days, with CITIC Securities, a major securities broker, jumping 8 percent.
Investors increasingly tended to favor stocks with high profitability. Companies in the clothing industry have seen their shares rally since the beginning of the year as many predicted an earnings surge.
Youngor Group, a Shanghai-listed clothing firm, saw its shares rise 2.54 percent Wednesday.
The ChiNext Index, tracking China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, gained 2.57 percent to end at 1,813.28 points Wednesday.
The surge came despite the fact that Leshi Internet Information and Technology, a major growth firm listed on ChiNext, slumped by the daily limit of 10 percent at market opening following a nine-month trading suspension.
