BEIJING, March 24  -- Chinese shares ended higher on Tuesday after key indices briefly dropped more than 2 percent during morning trade.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.1 percent to finish at 3,691.41 points, while the Shenzhen Component Index advanced 0.16 percent to close at 12,801.2 points.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, gained 2.8 percent to end at 2,357.97 points.

The Hushen 300 Index, which samples about a fifth of the total stocks listed on the two bourses, climbed 0.02 percent to close at3,973.05 points.

Communications, smart-healthcare and e-business sectors led the afternoon rebound.

A total of 154 stocks listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses soared to the daily cap of 10 percent, said Chen Dongwei, an analyst with CITIC Securities.

Chinese trade expert Mei Xinyu of the Ministry of Commerce, said the recent bullish run was also prompted by Premier Li Keqiang's remarks earlier this month that the government is likely to resort to a large set of "tools" to keep growth stable.

China has a full "tool kit" at its disposal and will use them if growth nears the lower end of its range, Li told a press conference after the annual parliamentary session.

"We are prepared to step up targeted macro-economic measures to boost market confidence if the slowdown hurts employment and salaries," he said.