(Yicai Global) Jan. 25 -- Stock markets on the Chinese mainland all closed higher today, recording gains from a week earlier as investors perked up toward the end of this week.

The Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.39 percent at 2,601.72 after peaking 1 percent higher around 2 p.m., with CNY135.4 billion (USD20 billion) trading hands. The Shenzhen Component Index closed at 7,595.45, up 0.29 percent after investors swapped CNY177.4 billion worth of shares. The ChiNext Price Index, which tracks growth enterprises in Shenzhen, finished up 0.03 percent at 1,265.49, with a trading volume of CNY53.31 billion.

The indexes gained 0.22 percent, 0.19 percent and 0.32 percent, respectively, from their closes on Jan. 18.

Insurers, banks and real estate developers provided the stimulus today, as more sectors declined than increased. The SSE 50 Index, made up of 50 blue chips in Shanghai, closed today up 1.25 percent.

Confidence in financial firms was boosted today after the central bank, the People's Bank of China, reduced the reserve requirement ratio for the second time this year. It cut the rate by 0.5 point, matching the trimming it made on Jan. 15. Analysts expect the cuts to increase liquidity in the financial system by about CNY750 billion (USD110.7 billion). 

Editor: James Boynton