SHANGHAI: China’s blue-chip stock index edged up on Friday and closed the holiday-shortened week near its lowest level in more than a year, as a selloff in AI-related supply chain shares deepened, while Hong Kong stocks rebounded on gains in internet companies.
The CSI300 Index ended 0.2 percent higher, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.1 percent. Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng was up 1.8 percent.
For the week, the CSI300 was down nearly 1 percent and has fallen for nine straight weeks. The Hang Seng Index was up 1 percent.
The 5G Communication Index fell as much as 6 percent to a two-month low. The tech-focused STAR50 Index shed as much as 4 percent to a five-month low before closing roughly flat.
Sentiment improved in the afternoon session, with turnover in some key blue-chip and small-cap ETFs, such as Huatai-PB CSI300 ETF, reaching its highest in nearly two months.
Zhongji Innolight, a leading maker of optical transceivers, slid 1 percent, while memory chip giant CXMT closed up 1 percent.
China’s stock benchmarks are near levels hit two years ago when a stimulus bonanza from Beijing lit up share prices and boosted hopes for a slow bull run, which is now limping into a three-month downtrend.
The Coal Index was up 1.4 percent, while consumer staple shares gained 0.8 percent, as investors rotated into more defensive and traditional sectors to curb risk.
Tech majors in Hong Kong rebounded, climbing 3.1 percent. Still, the index was hovering near a two-year low.
The People’s Bank of China pushed back on Thursday against foreign criticism of its exchange-rate policy, saying it has never pursued competitive depreciation, as European policymakers call for a stronger yuan to help curb China’s record trade surplus and export surge.
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