SHANGHAI'S stock market rose 0.75 percent yesterday - the first trading day in June after a disappointing May.

Boosted by the rally among power producers and securities companies, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks the yuan-denominated A shares and hard currency B shares, ended at 3,459.04, up 0.75 percent, or 25.69 points, from Friday.

The index touched an intraday high of 3,483.61 and intraday low of 3,400.72. Gainers outnumbered losers by 522 to 261, while 24 stocks remained unchanged.

Transactions settled at 61.9 billion yuan (US$8.8 billion), compared with 64.9 billion in the previous session.

The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks the nation's smaller bourse, was also up 0.25 percent, or 2.62 points, to 1,039.61.

"The stocks fell a bit in the opening session because of the planned initial public offering of China State Construction Engineering Corp, which aims to become the largest IPO so far this year," said Deng Zhimin, an analyst with Northeast Securities Co.

"But the indices were soon bolstered by the blue chips and the news that China's two telecom giants would soon announce details of their merger," Deng said.

China Unicom Ltd and China Netcom Group Corp held a joint briefing yesterday to announce details of the merger between them. The move was part of the government's bid to consolidate the country's telecommunications industry.

Shares of Zijin Mining Group Co Ltd jumped by the daily trading limit of 10 percent to 9.53 yuan while Datang International Power Generation Co Ltd added 7.07 percent to 13.32 yuan.

Sinolink Securities Co Ltd increased 5.87 percent to 53.58 yuan, which led other securities firms to rise.

The Shanghai key stock index fell 7 percent in May due to the battering of the devastating earthquake in Sichuan Province.