BEIJING: China stocks rose for a sixth straight session on Monday, while Hong Kong shares jumped to a six-month high, as a full reopening of the world’s second-biggest economy added fuel to the already heated bets of a robust recovery from the pandemic.
Sentiment also got a boost by a central banker’s pledge to support the internet sector and private firms, as well as an overhaul at Ant Group that saw its founder Jack Ma cede control of the fintech giant.
China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index gained 0.8% to a 3-1/2-month closing high, while the Shanghai Composite Index ended up 0.6%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 1.9% to the highest close since early July, led by technology shares .
China opened sea and land crossings with Hong Kong on Sunday and ended a requirement for incoming travellers to quarantine, dismantling a final pillar of a zero-COVID policy.
Ralph Hamers, group chief executive officer at UBS, told the bank’s annual Greater China Conference that he saw signs of recovery in China, where authorities moved to stabilise the struggling property market and scrapped stringent COVID curbs.
“The ending of the zero-COVID policy is ... going to have a major positive impact on domestic spending,” Hamers said. “We believe there is a lot of opportunity for those committed to investing in China.” Chinese internet stocks rose while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Tech Index jumped 3.2% after Guo Shuqing, Communist Party secretary of the People’s Bank of China, told state media that China’s clampdown on the internet sector was coming to an end.
Meanwhile, shares of listed Chinese companies that count Ant Group as a major shareholder - including Longshine Technology and Hundsun Technologies - gained after announcements that Ant founder Jack Ma was giving up control of the fintech giant following an overhaul.
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