BEIJING, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese share prices closed at another record high on Tuesday amid continuing expectations of further strong corporate profits in the first half of the year.

    By Aug. 6, a total of 271 companies, or 18.7 percent of Chinese listed firms, had announced their half-year reports, showing a 43.95-percent increase in earnings per share.

    Among them, 256 firms reported profits and seven saw their net profits soaring more than 10 fold.

    The bull run was likely to continue as more firms disclosed their first-half performance, said analysts.

    On Tuesday the key Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B shares listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, rose 23.12 points or 0.5 percent to close at 4,651.23 points.

    The index opened at 4,642.01 points in the morning and touched an intraday all-time high of 4,687.44 points in the afternoon.

    The steel and nonferrous metals sector continued to lead the market. Both Guangzhou Iron and Steel Co. and Anhui's Xinke Materials Co. rose by the maximum ten percent, while Shaanxi's Baoji Titanium Group surged 9.7 percent.

    Heavyweight shares were also a major contributor to the rise, with China Unicom up 0.93 percent, China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. up 5.2 percent, and China CITIC Bank up 1.04 percent.

    The aviation and military industries performed well, encouraged by China's new policy that opened the country's military industry to private businesses.

    Despite a continuing bull run, analysts with Guangfa Securities cautioned the market would probably face big fluctuations in the next few days.

    On Tuesday, the component index of the smaller Shenzhen Stock Exchange dipped 19.54 points or 0.12 percent to 16,523.27 points.

    Combined turnover of the two bourses rose to 276.6 billion yuan(36.4 billion U.S. dollars), from 264.4 billion yuan on the previous day.

    There were 323 gains and 509 losses on the Shanghai stock exchange and 243 gains and 355 losses on the Shenzhen bourse.

    The Hushen 300 index, which tracks 300 companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, closed at 4,724.55 points, up 20.56 points, or 0.44 percent, from the previous close.