BEIJING, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese major stock indices rose more than 2 percent on Friday after hitting the lowest points in more than four years during the morning trading.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index started the day 0.74 percent lower than the previous close, dived to as low as 2,440.91, the lowest level since November 2014, but finished 2.05 percent higher at 2,514.87 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index began with a near-1-percent decline Friday, hit the lowest since March 2014 and yet ended the third trading day of the year with a 2.76-percent surge to 7,284.84 points.

The total turnover of stocks in both indices recovered markedly, up from about 252 billion yuan (about 37 billion U.S. dollars) on Thursday to 322 billion yuan Friday, reflecting a boost in investor confidence.

The financial sector saw the strongest rally with the sub-index jumping 4.54 percent and several securities brokerage firms surging by the daily limit of 10 percent.

The ChiNext Index, China's NASDAQ-style board of growth enterprises, gained 2.52 percent to close at 1,245.16 points.