China stocks rise as first-quarter GDP growth beats forecast

HONG KONG: China and Hong Kong stocks advanced on Thursday, as better-than-expected first-quarter economic growth data lifted sentiment.

China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index climbed 0.9% by the lunch break, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.5%.

Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng gained 1.4%; Hang Seng Tech Index jumped 3%.

China’s economy picked up in the first quarter with gross domestic product rising 5%, beating market expectations.

But Beijing warned of a “complex and volatile” environment as the Iran war jacks up energy prices and hits global demand.

Tech stocks led the rally. Cloud computing, telecommunications and artificial intelligence -related stocks jumped more than 3%.

Xu Jie, fund manager at Yuanzi Investment Management, said the strong first-quarter economic data is “certainly a good thing” for the market and that China was breaking from the downward trend observed in the second half of last year.

For the first three months, the positive shock dominated with China’s exports rising at the fastest pace since 2022, Macquarie economists led by Larry Hu said in a note.

“In the months ahead, however, the negative impact from the Iran crisis could be more apparent, as higher oil prices could squeeze corporate margins and weigh on global demand,” they added.

On the geopolitical front, Israel is considering a possible ceasefire in Lebanon, while US President Donald Trump said the war with Iran could end soon.‑Reuters