The Hang Seng Index added 0.7 per cent to 25,275.02 at 9.50am local time, on track for its third consecutive weekly gain. The Hang Seng Tech Index rose 1.2 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index added 0.5 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.2 per cent.
Sportswear maker Li Ning jumped 6.9 per cent to HK$19.39 after its first-half profit beat estimates. Property management firm China Resources Mixc Lifestyle rallied 3.8 per cent to HK$41.20. Chipmaker SMIC advanced 3.4 per cent to HK$53.55 after Nvidia reportedly sought a halt to the production of China-focused H20 AI chips.
Pharmaceutical producer Wuxi AppTech slumped 1.8 per cent to HK$100.60 and power-tools maker Techtronic Industries lost 1.4 per cent to HK$98.90. Logistics provider ZTO Express lost 1.1 per cent to HK$148.10, while digital health services provider JD Health International declined 1.4 per cent to HK$18.27.
JPMorgan said in a recent report that it expected the momentum in mainland Chinese equities to persist, as leverage and valuations remained at moderate levels. The US investment bank estimated that potential asset rotation could inject as much as 14 trillion yuan (US$1.9 trillion) of liquidity into the market, equal to about 16 per cent of its free-float capitalisation.
Overnight in the US, the S&P 500 Index slipped 0.4 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 0.5 per cent, as investors cautiously await Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s keynote speech at the Jackson Hole meeting on Friday.