China stocks climb on Nvidia-led AI hardware rally; Hong Kong lags

SHANGHAI: China stocks rose on Thursday, as strong revenue projections from US chip giant Nvidia boosted investor appetite for artificial intelligence and hardware-related shares, while Hong Kong shares edged lower.

China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index climbed 0.5% by the lunch break, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.6%. Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng was down 0.4%.

Technology and hardware manufacturing shares led gains onshore.

The 5G Communication Index climbed 4.3%, while onshore artificial intelligence shares rose 3.5%.

The tech-focused STAR50 Index advanced by the same quantum. Broader tech sentiment was lifted after Nvidia on Wednesday forecast a 70% jump in annual revenue, underscoring unrelenting demand for artificial intelligence hardware even as it warned that memory component shortages would constrain growth.

Chinese memory chip giant CXMT jumped 5.3%, while Shengyi Technology, a supplier of electronic base materials, surged 10%. Optical fiber producers strengthened as well, with Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable surging 10% to its daily maximum.

Onshore non-ferrous metal shares extended a rally, rising 1.7%, led by gold miners, with Hunan Gold rising 10% to its daily trading maximum.

China’s industrial firms reported slower profit growth in July, with export-focused sectors riding the global AI boom, while industries reliant on domestic demand remained under pressure.

Hong Kong-listed tech heavyweights, which are dominated by internet platform firms and lack major hardware makers, edged up just 0.2%.

AI developer Minimax shares rose 3.6% after it posted a nearly four-fold jump in first-half revenue.

Hong Kong shares of Zhongji Innolight climbed 5% on inclusion in Stock Connect trading list.‑Reuters