SHANGHAI, – China stocks climbed on Friday, on track to close the week at their highest level in 10 months, as upbeat economic data lifted sentiment and investors largely looked past U.S. tariff concerns. Hong Kong shares declined on the day.
** China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index were up 1% each by the lunch break. Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng slipped 0.7%.
** The Shanghai Composite Index rose to 3,642 points on Friday, its highest level since October 2024.
** China stocks have steadily climbed this week, supported by upbeat trade and service activity data. For the week, the CSI300 Index has gained 1.5% so far, while the Hang Seng Index rose 1.7%.
** “The market may be underpricing the risk of near-term deterioration in the U.S.-China relationship,” said Morgan Stanley strategists led by Laura Wang.
** The strategists urged investors to monitor developments in trade tensions and flagged the upcoming NPC Standing Committee meeting and second-quarter earnings season as potential catalysts for market direction. In the interim, they expressed a preference for mainland-listed A-shares over their Hong Kong-listed H-share counterparts.
** U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he could announce further tariffs on China, similar to the 25% duties announced earlier on India over its purchases of Russian oil, depending on the developments in the trade discussions.
** China is facing an August 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with Trump’s administration.
** Tech majors traded in Hong Kong were down 1%, while materials shares were up nearly 2%.
** Shares of semiconductors dropped 1.4%, weighed down by a nearly 6% fall in China’s largest chipmaker SMIC after it reported weaker-than-expected second-quarter earnings.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
