China stocks edge higher on new energy sector gains; economic data in focus
- At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.4% at 4,017.94
HONG KONG: China stocks edged up on Thursday, led by gains in new energy sector shares, while investors awaited key economic data due on Friday.
At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.4% at 4,017.94, and China’s blue-chip CSI300 index climbed 1%, both recouping earlier losses.
“Some domestic institutional investors in China have a November year-end cutoff, and I think there’s been a shift toward booking the very strong year-to-date returns,” said Zhikai Chen, head of Asian equities at BNP Paribas Asset Management.
The profit-taking and rotation into dividend-paying sectors could stay for a while as these investors close out the year, he added.
Leading gains, the CSI New Energy Vehicle Index surged 6.9% to a three-year high, and the New Energy Index rallied 5.5%, on track for its biggest single-day gain in two weeks.
Battery maker CATL surged 8.2% to near a record high last seen in October, and miner Tianqi Lithium jumped 9.9%.
A senior official at China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Thursday that they will announce a comprehensive plan to boost the new energy battery sector and promote its infrastructure usage.
The artificial intelligence sector and chip shares climbed 0.5% and 0.9%, respectively, to recover some losses seen earlier this week.
In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index was down 0.6% at 26,766.71, after touching a one-month high on Wednesday. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index fell 0.6%.
Elsewhere, investors are awaiting China’s October credit data this week, and other indicators of economic activity such as retail sales, industrial output, and investment on Friday, to get a sense of the economic recovery and any implications for the policy outlook.