China, HK shares bounce on surge in US, Japan stocks

SHANGHAI: China and Hong Kong stocks rebounded on Monday, inspired by record-breaking performance on Wall Street, and bullish Asian markets led by Japan.

• Brokerages, meanwhile, recommend investors cling to their stock holdings ahead of next week’s Lunar New Year festival, saying the correction, which had brought the market down over 4% from its January 29 peak, likely ended.
• China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index climbed 1.4% by the lunch break, set for its best day in a month.
• The Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.2%. In Hong Kong, benchmark Hang Seng rose 1.5%. Risk appetite grew after the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the 50,000 mark for the first time on Friday.
• Japanese stocks swept to record peaks on Monday after Sanae Takaichi scored a landslide win in Sunday’s snap election.
• Caitong Securities said China’s stock turnover is shrinking ahead of the week-long holiday, but the index is starting to rise, “signalling the market correction is almost over.”
• “Investors who are willing to hold the stocks through the festival will be rewarded,” Caitong said.
• Guosheng Securities, Haitong International and Huajin Securities dispensed similar advice. Chinese film producers, media and entertainment stocks led gains as investors bet holiday spending will boost their revenue.
• Real-world-asset-related stocks, such as Guotai Junan International and GCL Energy Technology, rose on bets that they’d benefit from Beijing’s move to set up a legal framework for RWA tokenisation business.
• The UBS SDIC Silver Futures fund rebounded after notching a straight week of daily down limit losses, as prices of the metal bounced.
• China and Hong Kong gold-linked stocks also bounced, after news that China’s central bank extended its gold buying spree for a 15th month in January.