HONG KONG: China stocks rose for a seventh straight session, while Hong Kong stocks advanced as investors cheered policymakers’ efforts to boost market confidence and support the struggling property sector.

The blue-chip CSI 300 Index climbed 1.4% to close at its highest level since Dec. 4, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 1%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gave up some of the early gains and ended 1.6% higher, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index gained 2.2%.

China introduced a raft of measures after the Lunar New Year holiday to boost market sentiment.

The central bank announced a larger-than-expected benchmark mortgage rate cut in response to weak housing demand.

China’s housing authority said on Wednesday that 123.6 billion yuan ($17.20 billion) of development loans have been approved and 29.4 billion yuan have been issued under a special mechanism aimed at injecting liquidity into the crisis-hit property sector.

On Tuesday, China’s stock exchanges said major quant fund Lingjun Investment had broken rules on orderly trading and barred it from buying and selling for three days as part of wider regulatory efforts to revive market confidence.

Analysts said sentiment has been improving slightly. Foreign investors bought a net 13.6 billion yuan of A-shares on Wednesday via northbound trading, the biggest daily inflow since July 2023.

“It’s unlikely any single measure will lead to a 180-degree change in market sentiment but these measures are helpful,” said Jian Shi Cortesi, an investment director for Asia/China growth equities at GAM Investments.

“I believe the government will not stop finding ways to improve sentiment until the goal is achieved.”