SHANGHAI, Aug. 6 -- SHANGHAI stocks surpassed 4,600 points in the morning session, an intraday high, led by strong growth in steel makers.

The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks both yuan-denominated A shares and hard-currency B shares, gained 67 points, or 1.47 percent, to finish at 4,627.85.

The Shenzhen Composite Index, which covers the smaller mainland stock market, rose 21.78 points, or 1.65 percent, to 1,345.18.

The nation's 77 large- and medium-sized steel companies doubled their profit in the first half to a combined 78.3 billion yuan (US$10 billion) from a year ago, Luo Bingsheng, vice chairman of the China Iron and Steel Association, said last week in Beijing.

Baoshan Iron & Steel Co, the country's biggest steel maker, gained 5.44 percent to 14.73 yuan per share at 11:30am.

Wuhan Iron & Steel Co jumped 6.42 percent to 14.26 yuan and Angang Steel surged 4.84 percent to 26.45 yuan.

Hangxiao Steel Structure Co slumped 3.15 percent to 23.99 yuan after trading in its shares were suspended for one week.

The company said on Saturday that its multibillion-US-dollar project in Angola was delayed due to risks and uncertainties.

Bank stocks, which rallied on Friday and helped send the index to a record close, dropped at the opening today but began rebounding before the break.

Pudong Development Bank rose 3.89 percent to 45.95 yuan and Huaxia Bank Co Ltd rose 4.84 percent to 14.74 yuan.

Bank of Nanjing lost 1.54 percent to 24.28 yuan and Bank of Ningbo dropped 1.49 percent to 30.98 yuan.

The metals sector reported widespread growth.

Jiangxi Copper, China's second-biggest copper producer, jumped 8.18 percent to 34.65 yuan and Yunnan Copper, the country's third-biggest copper maker, rallied 4.77 percent to 55.84 yuan.