HONG KONG: Hong Kong stocks posted the biggest daily gain in 21 months, while China shares inched higher on Thursday as market sentiment recovered after the US midterm elections.
Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index closed 3.7% higher, marking its biggest single-day advance since February 2025.
Hang Seng Tech surged 5.6%, with index heavyweights Alibaba and Tencent gaining more than 8% and 7%, respectively.
The gains tracked Wall Street’s overnight rally as investors welcomed lower uncertainty after US midterm elections.
“China and Hong Kong remain relatively attractive,” Morningstar analysts said in an investment outlook on Thursday, following an October correction in which the Hang Seng Index dropped 5% and the CSI 300 declined 9%.
The pullback may also create rebound opportunities in heavily sold quality names where AI concerns, rather than weaker fundamentals, drove the decline, said Lorraine Tan, director of equity research for Asia at Morningstar, which is bullish on Alibaba and Tencent.
The rally was also backed by the rebound in property stocks after Zhuhai Huafa Group received funding from its local government
In A-shares, China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index closed 0.3% higher, while the Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.1%.
By sector, investors favored solar power, semiconductors and new energy, but sold oil and optical communication shares.
“China’s domestic technology supply chain may become further differentiated” after Democrats’ sweeping midterm election win, said Cliff Zhao, chief economist at CCB International.
Hardware exporters that depend heavily on US AI capex may be affected, while GPUs, semiconductor equipment, advanced packaging and computing-infrastructure may continue to benefit from technological self-reliance needs, he added.
State-backed oil producer PetroChina fell 8% on weakening oil prices as Democrats’ victory raised hopes for an end to the US-Iran war.
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