Chinese shares rebounded slightly on Wednesday after a 4.51-percent drop on the previous trading day.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 58.66 points, or 1.14 percent, to close at 5,172.62 points. The Shenzhen Component Index was up 269.02 points, or 1.57 percent, to stand at 17,398.4 points.

Nonferrous metal stocks led gains with China Aluminum Corporation, the country's largest producer of primary aluminum, rising 4.49 percent to end at 49.12 yuan.

Heavyweight stocks remained weak. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China's largest bank, saw a slight drop of 0.03 percent to 6.5 yuan and the Bank of China closed flat.

The combined turnover on the two bourses reached 229 billion yuan (about US$30.5 billion), lower than 263 billion yuan on Tuesday.

China's major stock index slumped 241.32 points on Tuesday to close at 5,113.97, the largest daily drop since July 5, following high economic figures and reports that stock futures may come out soon.

Analysts hold differing views on the future trends of the stock market. Zhang Gang with Southwest Securities believes the major index will fluctuate for the rest of September as there is no major force driving it up. But he expected no more large drops.

Zhu Ping with GF Fund Management said the stock market had accumulated a lot of risks and the adjustment was inevitable.

Hu Yuyue with Beijing Technology and Business University suggested there would be no interference from the government, saying the likelihood of a further slump was small.

Statistics released on Tuesday showed that China's consumer price index (CPI), the marker of inflation, rose by 6.5 percent in August, the highest monthly rise in 11 years. More measures are expected to control excessive liquidity.

When the central bank announces another interest rate hike, the share prices may rise, predicted Hu.

(Xinhua News Agency September 13, 2007)