China and Hong Kong stocks advanced on Wednesday, tracking a broader rebound in global markets as investor sentiment improved toward technology and artificial intelligence supply-chain companies, Reuters reported.
China’s blue-chip CSI300 index climbed 1.1% by the midday break, recovering from a near one-month low, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.7%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index rose 0.7%.
Overnight gains on Wall Street provided additional support to Chinese technology and AI-related stocks. The tech-heavy STAR50 index jumped 2.2%, while the 5G Communication Index gained 1%. The moves followed a more than 2% rise in Nvidia, which ended a seven-session losing streak and helped lift optimism across the global AI sector.
Shares of optical networking companies also advanced strongly, with Lumentum rising more than 6% and Coherent gaining over 4%.
Non-ferrous metal stocks were among the leading gainers in mainland China, rising 3.3%, while Hong Kong-listed materials companies advanced 3.7%. The gains came as gold prices remained close to a three-month high.
According to Reuters, UBS Wealth Management expects gold to retain its upward momentum, supported by de-dollarisation, renewed inflows into exchange-traded funds and continued purchases by central banks. The investment bank also sees bullion benefiting from weakness in the US dollar and changing expectations for US interest rates.
Hong Kong-listed technology giants rebounded 1.6% after falling to a one-and-a-half-month low in the previous session. Alibaba gained as much as 3% after a regulatory filing showed that its chairman had bought shares in the company. Media reports also indicated that Alibaba founder Jack Ma had purchased shares.
The broader market advance was not shared by energy stocks. The CSI Energy Index fell nearly 1% as Brent crude futures declined on expectations that additional oil supplies could move through the Strait of Hormuz.
Healthcare stocks in Hong Kong performed strongly, with the Hang Seng Healthcare Index rising 1.4%. Innovent Biologics surged nearly 10% after the biopharmaceutical company reported better-than-expected first-half earnings.
The gains across technology, AI-linked companies, metals and healthcare highlighted a broader improvement in risk appetite, although weakness in energy stocks and continuing sensitivity to global commodity and interest-rate trends kept investors cautious.
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