HONG KONG: Shares in China and Hong Kong eked out small gains on Thursday after US President Joe Biden said Washington’s relations with Beijing have not worsened since America shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon, while investors remained hopeful of China’s economic recovery.

China’s blue-chip CSI 300 Index rose 0.75%, while the Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.62%.

Hang Seng Index rose 0.34% and Hang Seng China Enterprises Index added 0.31%.

Asian shares tracked Wall Street lower on Thursday, as a number of Federal Reserve speakers echoed Chair Jerome Powell in saying that interest rates are set to go higher.

The CSI Liquor index gained 2.71% after Bloomberg reported on Wednesday an IPO plan by Chinese white liquor maker Guizhou Guotai Liquor seeking to raise $500 million in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, net inflow into the A share market via the northbound stock connect has been down since end January, while turnover dropped since Feb.2.