HONG KONG: China’s CSI 300 and Hong Kong stocks edged up on Wednesday over easing Covid-19 curbs and likely more measures to boost economic growth, underpinned by US inflation data that has raised hopes of a softer Federal Reserve rate hike stance.
The blue-chip CSI 300 Index rose 0.23%, while the Shanghai Composite Index was flat.
The Hang Seng Index climbed 0.39% and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index advanced 0.71%.
When China’s leaders gather this month to set next year’s economic agenda, they will likely map out more stimulus steps, eager to underpin growth and to ease disruptions caused by a sudden end to Covid curbs, policy insiders and analysts said.
China’s National Health Commission (NHC) said on Wednesday it will roll out second COVID vaccine booster shots for high-risk groups and elderly people over 60 years old. CanSino Biologics surged as much as 8.5% following the news while its Hong Kong shares also soared 7.4%.
China will stop reporting new asymptomatic Covid infections as of Wednesday. The health authority reported 2,291 new symptomatic Covid infections on Dec. 13.
Morgan Stanley analysts expect underlying infections peaking around the Lunar New Year but China will not go back to lockdowns.
“Covid is now in its least threatening state from the standpoint of severe diseases/deaths, so we don’t expect restrictions to be tightened,” Morgan Stanley analysts led by chief Asia economist Chetan Ahya wrote in a note.
Shares of Chinese chipmakers jumped in morning trade after Reuters reported that Beijing was working on a $143 billion package to aid the country’s semiconductor sector, but the momentum cooled in the afternoon.
China’s SSE STAR Chip Index opened nearly 4% higher, but ended down 0.4%. Industry giants Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) rose 1.8%, while Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment Inc China jumped 2.7%.
Liquor makers and tourism stocks rose 3% and 2.4%, respectively, leading the gains in China-A shares as investors bought up reopening beneficiaries.
Traditional Chinese medicine companies fell for a second day, down 4%.
Hong Kong-listed tech giants went up 0.3%, with Meituan and Tencent up 2.1% respectively.
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