BEIJING, July 17 -- Chinese share prices closed slightly higher on Friday as the Shanghai Composite Index fluctuated strongly for the whole trading day.

    The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.19 percent, or 6 points, to 3,189.

    The Shenzhen Component Index gained 0.38 percent, or 50.08 points, to 13,131.

    Total turnover shrank to 283 billion yuan (41 billion U.S. dollars) from 332 billion yuan on the previous trading day.

    Coal stocks led the sprint, seeing Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. Ltd , Taiyuan Coal Gasification Co. Ltd and Hengyuan Coal-Electricity soar to the limits.

    Non-ferrous shares perked up, jetting 7 onto limits. Of those, Yunan Aluminium, Nanshan Aluminium, Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminium and Aluminum Co. of China hiked over 10 percent.

    China's GDP grew 7.9 percent in the second quarter, marking acceleration for the first time in seven quarters.

    The GDP growth in the second quarter beats the market expectation, expected to shore up confidence of stock investors.

    Profits of China's state-owned firms registered a year-on-year rise of 29.4 percent, statistics released by the Ministry of Finance show.

    China's state-owned firms reaped net profit of 553.4 billion yuan in Jan.-June, down 27 percent year on year, 3.3 percentage points lower than in Jan.-May.

    The rising profit of state-owned firms in June provided more evidence for the recovery of the macro economy, which is expected to boost the confidence of investors on the fundamentals of the stock market.

    Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Beijing.

(Source: XHTV)