HONG KONG: Hong Kong stocks rallied for a fourth straight session, while China shares edged up, lifted by encouraging signs from inflation data and strength in tech stocks.
Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng Index closed up 1 percent at 26,200.26, its highest level since September 10, 2021.
Tech giants listed in Hong Kong jumped 1.3 percent.
China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index climbed 0.2 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.1 percent.
China’s producer deflation eased in August, indicating Beijing’s efforts to curb price wars in key industrial sectors have started to bear fruit.
Meanwhile, consumer prices fell at the fastest pace in six months, but the core index rose to a 2-1/2-year high.
“The August inflation print saw pockets of improvement, driven by anti-involution and consumer goods trade-in. Prices outside policy support remain soft,” Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note on Wednesday. The so-called “anti-involution” is a government campaign to combat destructive price competition.
Tech stocks led gains on investor optimism about future AI revenue as shares of Oracle surged to a record in after-hours trading in the US on strong cloud orders.
In Hong Kong, index heavyweights Semiconductor Manufacturing International and JD.com both gained 3.6 percent, while Baidu was up 2.8 percent.
On mainland A-shares, optical transceiver stocks outperformed after Citi raised target prices on China transceiver leaders. Zhongji Innolight jumped 7.2 percent.
Broader CSI 300 Telecommunication Services rose 4 percent, and CSI Cloud Computing Indexes went up 3.4 percent.
China Asset Management expects both domestic and global easing environments, especially the expectations of a US rate cut next week, will continue to support the equity market.