BEIJING -- Total daily turnover on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets on Wednesday expanded to a new record high, thanks to positive market sentiment.

Turnover on the two bourses expanded to a new high of 914.9 billion yuan (about $148.8 billion) from the previous day's trading of 675 billion yuan.

Transactions on the Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses reached 529.8 billion yuan and 385.1 billion yuan respectively on the day.

The record high turnover was achieved amid rising shares on the two bourses. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.58 percent to finish at 2,779.53 points on Wednesday, and the Shenzhen Component Index closed at 9,643.92 points, up 2.96 percent.

On Wednesday, 54 stocks on the two bourses surged by the daily limit of 10 percent.

Analysts believe the recent rally is mainly driven by the interest rate cut in November, which boosted market liquidity.

Many institutions expect a cut in the reserve requirement ratio soon for some banks, which is expected to unleash more funds into the equity market.

China's stock market capitalization overtook Japan as the world's second largest after the United States, data from the two bourses showed last week.