BEIJING, March 23 -- Another record was set Thursday as the Shanghai benchmark stock index marched toward 3,100 points as funds sought big caps to pocket profit on the planned stock-index futures.

Analysts cautioned that the market, in the middle of a long-term bullish scenario, may see a slowdown in the pace of growth and may face risks of fluctuations around the psychological level.

The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks yuan-denominated A shares and hard-currency B shares, inched up 0.45 percent yesterday to 3,071.23 after hitting a previous record high on Wednesday.

Yesterday's turnover hit 113.9 billion yuan (14.7 billion U.S. dollars), up from the 90.2 billion yuan the day on Wednesday.

The A-share index edged up 0.45 percent to 3,227.02 while the B-share index added 0.2 percent to 177.99.

"News that the stock futures are on the horizon encouraged institutional investors to load up with heavily weighted blue chips so as to pocket (profit) after the futures are launched," said Wei Wei, an analyst at West China Securities Co.

The pilot stock-index futures will likely be launched in the first half of this year to deal with growing market volatility, said Fan Fuchun, vice chairman at the China Securities Regulatory Commission earlier this month.

The futures contracts, which are designed to track a gauge covering the top 300 mainland-listed heavily weighted blue chips, will allow investors to profit even when the index falls.

In yesterday's trading, refiners were the top advancers among big caps.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, Asia's top refiner, jumped 3.87 percent to 9.4 yuan after gaining 1.57 percent on Wednesday. Its subsidiary, Shanghai Petrochemical Co, soared 4.95 percent to 9.33 yuan yesterday.

Elsewhere, China Merchants Bank added 1.16 percent to 16.62 yuan while Baoshan Iron & Steel Co climbed 1.12 percent to close at 9.06 yuan.

(Source: Shanghai Daily)