An investor smiles before an electronic board showing stock information at a securities firm in Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province March 20, 2007. [newsphoto]

China's main stock index reached a record high Wednesday as analysts expected vibrations to rule the equity market in the coming days.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.83 percent at 3,057.38 points, an all-time high while the Shenzhen Composite Index gained 1.36 percent to 805.68. The Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index of major companies rose 1.12 percent to 2,702.59.

Automobile shares contributed to the rise. The First Automobile Works surged 8.82 percent to 8.14 yuan while Chang'an Automobile was up 7.83 percent to 15.15 yuan.

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Jiangxi Copper soared by its daily 10 percent limit to 19.83 yuan for the second day in a row after disclosing a plan to raise 4 billion yuan through a private share issue to buy assets from its parent company and develop mining resources.

The financial shares staged a mixed performance. The Pudong Development Bank increased 4.55 percent to 26.17 yuan and Shenzhen Development Bank gained 5.02 percent to 19.89 yuan.

But China Life, the country's biggest insurer dipped 0.72 percent to 34.16 yuan while its major rival Pingan Insurance fell by 1.49 percent to 45.1.

While confident that the market is a bullish one in the long term, the analysts expected the market to experience see-saws in the following days.

The room for further rise is very limited and structural risks remain, analysts with Shenyin Wanguo Securities said.

Tiantong Securities analysts agreed on the assessment, adding that a structural adjustment would continue.

Last month, the Shanghai Composite Index hit a then record high of 3,040.60 before plummeting nearly 9 percent, the largest daily fall in a decade.

China's listed firms were banned Tuesday to invest the proceeds from shares sales in securities as the regulators took measures to cool off the stock market fever.

The People's Bank of China, the central bank, announced a 0.27 percentage point interest rate rise at the weekend, but did not dampen the investors' enthusiasm. The Shanghai Composite Index gained nearly three percent Monday, followed by an increase of 0.59 percent on Tuesday.