An investor shows his open hand signalling five at a stock brokerage in Yangzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province, Aug. 23, 2007. China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index surpassed the 5,000 mark for the first time on Thursday. (Xinhua photo)
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    BEIJING, Aug. 24 -- The Shanghai stock market jumped 1.05 percent to close at 5032.49 yesterday, breaching the 5000-point psychological barrier for the first time.

    The Shanghai Composite Index rose 52.41 points, with 524 out of 901 stocks closing higher. Turnover amounted to 153.37 billion yuan (20.1 billion U.S. dollars).

    The index has surged a total of 88 percent this year.

    The Shenzhen Composite Index rose 1.2 percent to close at 1415.18, and the foreign-currency denominated B-share index climbed 0.69 percent to close at 316.46.

    According to Orient Securities, non-ferrous metal stocks surged the most from June, followed by real estate, and mining and quarrying stocks.

    Analysts said plentiful liquidity, strong corporate earnings and positive investor sentiment combined to drive the stock market to a new high.

    "Asset revaluation is just beginning, and will continue in the second half of this year, which is expected to push the market even higher," said Zhu Haibin, an analyst at Essence Securities.

    "The booming market is sure to continue to absorb big amounts of capital from family savings," said a report from Orient Securities yesterday.

    The percentage of investment assets owned by each household in China is much lower than in developed countries. Equity investment accounts for only 9 percent of a family's total assets in China, compared with 22.7 percent in the U.S. and 20 percent in Japan, according to the report.

    However, liquidity is expected to reduce in the second half, analysts said.

    "Demand for capital is expected to increase sharply in the next few months because of the expected large amounts of the IPOs, new-share offering and corporate bonds," said the report.

    "The government may also adopt some administrative measures to control bank lending, which may trigger a market correction," said Zhu.

    "We will invest in low P/E ratio stocks, and companies that directly benefit from economic growth and currency appreciation in the near future," said Lin Wenjun, chief analyst at Fullgoal Fund Management Co Ltd.

    (Source: China Daily)