SHANGHAI: Chinese stocks closed up on Thursday, as strong revenue projections from US chip giant Nvidia boosted investor appetite for artificial intelligence and hardware-related shares, while Hong Kong shares ended lower.
China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index ended 0.9 percent higher, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.1 percent. Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng was down 0.3 percent.
Technology and hardware manufacturing shares led gains onshore. The 5G Communication Index climbed 3.8 percent, while onshore artificial intelligence shares rose 3.6 percent. The tech-focused STAR50 Index advanced 3.8 percent.
Broader tech sentiment was lifted after Nvidia on Wednesday forecast a 70 percent jump in annual revenue, underscoring unrelenting demand for artificial intelligence hardware even as it warned that memory component shortages would constrain growth.
Chinese memory chip giant CXMT jumped 5.4 percent, while Shengyi Technology, a supplier of electronic base materials, surged 8.4 percent.
Optical fiber producers strengthened as well, with Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable surging 10 percent to its daily maximum.
Onshore non-ferrous metal shares extended a rally, rising 1.5 percent, led by gold miners, with Hunan Gold rising 10 percent to its daily trading maximum.
China’s industrial firms reported slower profit growth in July, with export-focused sectors riding the global AI boom, while industries reliant on domestic demand remained under pressure.
Hong Kong-listed tech heavyweights, which are dominated by internet platform firms and lack major hardware makers, ended 0.1 percent down.
AI developer Minimax shares rose 3.8 percent after it posted a nearly four-fold jump in first-half revenue.
Hong Kong shares of Zhongji Innolight climbed 3.1 percent on inclusion in the Stock Connect trading list.