HONG KONG: Chinese tech stocks resumed their bullish rally on Friday to register their best winning streak in over two years, driven by DeepSeek’s AI breakthrough, which reignited investor interest in China’s technology capabilities.
The Hang Seng Tech Index jumped 5.6% to a three-year high at close, bringing the week’s advance to 7.3%. That made a fifth consecutive week of gains, the best winning run since China’s post-COVID trade reopening started in late 2022.
The rally gained more momentum during the afternoon trading session after a Reuters report that Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to chair a symposium attended by Jack Ma and other Chinese business leaders to boost private sector sentiment.
Alibaba closed up 6.3% at a three-year high on Friday. Its shares have surged 24% this week, the biggest gain since its public debut in the city in 2019.
Xiaomi surged 7.3% to a record high on the symposium news, while Tencent jumped 7.4%, its best single-day gain in two years.
The Hang Seng Index tracking the broader market in Hong Kong advanced 3.7% to near its October high.
Mainland stocks also edged up, with the blue-chip CSI300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index adding 0.9% and 0.4% respectively.
“Global investors are starting to reassess China’s investibility within the tech and AI space, after an extended period of limited attention, which could still lead to a recovery of positioning with thorough fundamental research done at the individual company level,” Morgan Stanley strategists including Laura Wang said in a note on Friday.