Shanghai shares continued to climb Tuesday on an inflow of investors' funds, with lower-value chips in the steel and coal sectors pacing the rise.

The Shanghai Composite Index, which groups yuan-denominated A shares and hard-currency B chips, edged up 0.26 percent to finish at 3,720.53, another all-time closing high.

Turnover on the Shanghai bourse amounted to 205.5 billion yuan (26.62 billion U.S. dollars), also a record high, against 184.6 billion yuan on Monday.

"Funds unfrozen from earlier subscriptions for new-share sales flowed heavily back to the market, which helped the index go up steadily," said Han Wenhai, a Donghai Securities Co analyst.

"Although the market faces profit-taking pressure, the chances of making money are likely to lure capital in and spur the market to continue on a bullish track."

Wuhan Iron & Steel Co, China's fifth-biggest steel maker by output, swelled 9.45 percent to 11.70 yuan while Pingdingshan Tianan Coal Mining Co, a Henan Province-based coal miner, added 8.68 percent to 18.15 yuan.

Observers attributed the market's high trading volume Tuesday to the unfreezing of about 1.2 trillion yuan in funds that had been used to apply for shares of China Citic Bank Co last week.

Some analysts cautioned that investors must be well aware of a possible accumulation of risks in chasing already high-value stocks.

"We see volatility to grow wider in the market and the index may well correct in the short term," said Zheng Jinfei, a China Galaxy Securities Co analyst. "Investors should avoid pumping funds into high-value chips at the moment."

Elsewhere, Sichuan Changhong Electric Co, China's No. 2 television maker, soared to the 10 percent daily cap to end at 9.27 yuan.

The company said it plans to raise about 2.5 billion yuan selling new shares to fund the purchase of Dutch company Sterope Investments BV.

China Life Insurance Co, the country's top insurer, climbed 1.98 percent to 37.62 percent.

The insurer said Tuesday it posted an unaudited first-quarter profit of 8.9 billion yuan and noted its parent has no plans to list shares of the group publicly.