BEIJING, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese equities concluded Tuesday trading at a record high, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index surging past the 3,400-point barrier for the first time to reach 3,444.29 points, up 1.33 percent from the previous close.

    The key stock indicator, which tracks both A- and B-shares, peaked at 3,444.37 points and bottomed at 3,351.10 points, closed up 45.34 points on a turnover of 154.385 billion yuan (20.1 billion U.S. dollars).

    The Component Index on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange also posted a new record gain -- up 176.97 points, or 1.87 percent -- to close at 9,652.68 points on a transaction volume at 78.468 billion yuan (10.2 billion U.S. dollars).

    The combined turnover for the two bourses summed up to 232.853 billion yuan (30.2 billion U.S. dollars), an increment of 15.38 billion yuan (two billion U.S. dollars) from the previous trading day.

    The Shanghai stock exchange recorded 401 gainers and 427 losers, with 64 shares unchanged, while the Shenzhen exchange saw 293 gainers and 292 losers, with 71 shares unchanged.

    Heavyweights drove up the upbeat market mood.

    The Bank of China rose to 5.88 yuan, up 3.70 percent, while the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, surged to 5.58 yuan, up 1.82 percent.

    Major regulatory factor behind Tuesday market performance was new rules on time limits for executives of listed companies to trade shares.

    Meanwhile, combined market value on the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses amounted to 13.8 trillion yuan (1.79 billion U.S. dollars) on Monday, exceeding that of the main board and growth market of the Hong Kong bourse, which stood at 13.7 trillion yuan (1.78 billion U.S. dollars).

    Analysts believed the bullish trend would continue amid fluctuations.

    On Tuesday, the Hushen 300 Index, which reflects the whole fluctuation of China's Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, closed at 3,081.57 points, up 43.40 points, or 1.43 percent, from the previous close.