China, HK stocks rise

SHANGHAI: China and Hong Kong stocks closed up on Friday as investor sentiment improved after a press conference co-hosted by China’s central bank, but gains were limited by the continued lack of details on the government’s economic stimulus plans.

China’s blue-chip CSI 300 Index closed up 0.4%, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.2%. The Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng Index was up 0.6%.

For the week, CSI 300 Index was up 0.7% while Hang Seng Index was down 1.9%. Stocks had opened higher into a press conference titled “Driving high-quality economic growth with macro policies”, co-hosted by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), as markets hoped for more concrete details on policy easing.