S&P Pharmaceutical Co. tumbled its daily 10 percent limit to 21.42 yuan after the Shanghai Securities News reported that the China Securities Regulatory Commission was investigating abnormal share price movements in the maker of medical and health care products.

Supor , which had surged 23 percent over the previous three days on news that China's Ministry of Commerce had given approval for France's SEB to buy a majority stake, fell 2.03 percent to 32.85 yuan.

But several top blue chips continued rising, suggesting many investors believed the market's uptrend would soon resume. Sinopec climbed 3.25 percent to 11.74 yuan, after hitting an all-time high of 11.99 yuan.

Insurance stocks, which have risen this week on news that the government was letting insurers expand their investment in equities, stayed strong. China Life rose 0.51 percent to 37.69 yuan and Ping An Insurance gained 2.98 percent to a record close of 55.03 yuan.

Sichuan Changjiang Packaging Holdings soared an eye-popping 849 percent to 68.16 yuan on resuming trade after being suspended since the end of last year. It projected that it would swing to a profit in the first quarter of 2007. ($1 = 7.72 yuan)

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