China, Hong Kong stocks rise as investors bet on Sino-US talks

SHANGHAI: China stocks rose on Thursday, as investors lapped up reports that Beijing and Washington officials spoke by telephone and agreed to promote healthy trade and cooperate over differences.

** The CSI300 index was up 1.1% at 5,292.46 points, by the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.8% to 3,620.72 points.

** The tech-heavy start-up board ChiNext rose 2.7%, while Shanghai's tech-focused STAR50 index added 1.1%.

** Both sides recognise the importance of business exchanges and will keep lines of communication open, the Chinese statement said after Commerce Minister Wang Wentao spoke with US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, in the latest high-level exchange as the countries spar over disagreements.

** Shares in Chinese companies, which have business cooperation with TikTok, climbed after US President Joe Biden withdrew a series of Trump-era executive orders that sought to ban new downloads of WeChat and TikTok.

** Small- and medium-cap sectors performed well, as market participants favour growth stocks due to relatively friendly liquidity conditions at home and continued loose liquidity abroad, Vanho Securities said in a report.

** A strong yuan also helps bring more foreign inflows to the country's equities market, the brokerage added.

** Investors on Thursday purchased 8.8 billion yuan worth of A-shares via the Stock Connect linking mainland and Hong Kong, according to Refinitiv data.

** China's central bank governor Yi Gang said he expects the country's annual average inflation to be below 2% this year, while cautioning against both inflationary and deflationary pressure amid economic and macro policy uncertainty.

** China's May factory gate prices rose at their fastest annual pace in over 12 years due to surging commodity prices, highlighting global inflation pressures at a time when policymakers are trying to revitalise COVID-hit growth.

** In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index added 0.3%, to 28,828.94 points, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index gained 0.3%, to 10,737.44.