1st LD-Writethru: Chinese shares on roller-coaster ride Wednesday

Chinese shares staged a remarkable rally on Wednesday, recovering from the early losses brought about by small-cap stocks.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index surged 0.88 percent to close at 2,928.9 points while the smaller Shenzhen index edged up 0.08 percent to end the day at 10,307.63 points.

The ChiNext Index, the NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, dipped 0.65 percent to close at 2,203.74 points.

Total turnover on the two bourses slightly increased to 580.5 billion yuan (88.89 billion U.S. dollars).

Gainers outnumbered losers by 643 to 321 in the Shanghai index.

More than 1,400 stocks gained during the day's trading, with 65 climbing by the daily limit of 10 percent.

The oil sector performed strongly on Wednesday, leading the broader index out of the negative opening during the morning session, with PetroChina, the nation's largest oil producer, closing 0.67 percent higher at 7.53 yuan.

The sub-indexes related to ship-building, textile and transportation were also among the best performers in Wednesday's rally.

The property sector extended the momentum to Wednesday and posted a 0.9-percent gain.

Small-cap stocks remained sluggish, dragging the broader indices down to negative territory.

The benchmark Shanghai index plunged to lower levels after the midday break, followed by a sudden ricochet lifting the index firmly above the 2,900-point mark.

The peak-to-trough fluctuation of the Shanghai index reached around 2 percent after the roller-coaster day. Endi