On Tuesday the bourses in China opened lower but managed to eke out moderate gains by the end of the day's trading. The Shanghai composite finished at 3629.62, up 3.43 or 0.09% on slightly contracted transaction volume. The Shenzhen component ended up 329.04 or 2.51%, at 13427.28 as turnover matched that of the previous session. In Shanghai 576 gainers outnumbered 207 losers.

Airlines were the stars of the markets today as Southern, Eastern, Shanghai and Hainan Airlines each hit their 10% up limit early in the morning session and stayed there until the markets closed. Big caps, however, were beaten down today. PetroChina plunged 5.45% in the morning session, recovering later in the session but still finishing down 4.14% at the close. Sinopec fell 3.15%. Real estate stocks led in the afternoon, with Lu Jiazui in the Shanghai market closing limit up and Vanke in the Shenzhen market ending up 6.14%.