SHANGHAI: China stocks ended up on Friday but the blue-chip benchmark was still hovering around nearly five-year lows, while Hong Kong shares fell as investors remained cautious about China’s weak recovery and awaited clues from upcoming policy meetings.
The blue-chip CSI 300 Index edged up 0.2%, and the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.1% at market close.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.1%, and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index was down 0.3%.
The CSI 300 Index lost 2.4% for the week, booking the worst week since Oct. 20, as ratings agency Moody’s slapped a downgrade warning on China and Hong Kong’s credit ratings, adding to investor concerns about China’s already-weak recovery.
Data on Thursday also showed an unexpected shrink in imports, although exports grew for the first time in six months in November.
“It underscores the need to boost domestic demand,” Bohai Securities said.
In the coming two weeks, the market will shift its focus to policy signals, the brokerage added.
China will be holding the annual Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC) this month, where top leaders will discuss policy plans and the outlook for the world’s second-largest economy.
Shares in artificial intelligence, communications equipment rose 3.3% and 4.4%, respectively, while real estate developers fell 1.2%.
Overnight, Alphabet shares ended 5.3% higher as Wall Street cheered the launch of Gemini, saying the new artificial intelligence model could help narrow the gap in a race with Microsoft-backed OpenAI.
Hong Kong-listed tech giants lost 0.4%.
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