Chinese shares rallied Monday due to the strong performance of small-caps, with increased trading volume on the country's two stock exchanges.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.54 percent to finish at 3,156.98 points, and the smaller Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.74 percent higher at 10,078.73 points.
Small-caps led the gains. The ChiNext Index, which tracks China's NASDAQ-style enterprises, rose 1.26 percent to close at 1,900.45 points, the highest in 12 trading days.
Total turnover rebounded strongly to 329.2 billion yuan (47.98 billion U.S. dollars), up from 240 billion yuan the previous trading day.
More than 2,400 A-shares saw rises, accounting for nearly 80 percent of Shanghai and Shenzhen-listed companies.
The rally can be partly attributable to encouraging service sector expansion in January. The Caixin General Services Purchasing Managers' Index stood at 53.1 for the last month, slightly lower than a month ago but still well above the boom-or-bust 50 mark.
The service sector accounted for more than half of China's
economy last year and for the majority of growth.
Agricultural shares boomed as the central authorities Sunday pledged to deepen reform in agriculture in a key document, with more efforts to promote "green" production and extend the sector's industrial and value chain.
Shares in oil refining, textile machinery and environmental protection also saw considerable increases.
Despite the bullish Monday, analysts expect looming pressure on the market as about 52 billion yuan of lock-up shares will become tradeable this week, and the central bank's money-pumping operations, including reverse repurchase agreements, will soon become due.
