Real estate sector propels market rally

After Monday's anemic rise, stock markets on the Chinese mainland hit the throttle Tuesday as rumblings on the policy front pulled investors off the sidelines.

The Shanghai Composite Index picked up 24.66 points, or 1.18 percent, to finish at 2,123.11; while the Shenzhen Component Index advanced 124.46 points, or 1.51 percent, to 8,368.04.

Combined turnover totaled 218.59 billion yuan ($35.71 billion), holding steady with Monday's 218.46 billion yuan.

Rural reform expectations catapulted agriculture stocks ahead by an average of 4.71 percent. The implications of possible reforms acted as a catalyst for several other of the market's weightiest sectors. Components within the real estate, banking, IT and insurance sectors grabbed their share of the gains.

Five real estate stocks hit the 10-percent daily limit. Among the property sector's blue chips, China Vanke Co Ltd tacked on 1.07 percent to 15.16 yuan, Poly Real Estate Group Co Ltd advanced 4.61 percent to 10.67 yuan, and Gemdale Corporation jumped 4.65 percent to 6.52 yuan.

Topping the banking sector's winning list was Industrial Bank Co Ltd. Its shares soared 4.76 percent to 11.23 yuan.

A vow made by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to tackle overcapacity within the pulp and paper industry lifted related equities. Forestry stocks were nudged higher as well by plans to reform forest tenure policies.

On the downside, profit-taking and overbought concerns took their toll on shares tied to Shanghai's free trade zone. Shanghai International Port Group, Shanghai Pudong Road and Bridge Co Ltd and Shanghai Material Trading Co Ltd all fell by more than 4 percent.