SHANGHAI: Chinese stocks closed up on Wednesday as investor sentiment improved slightly on upbeat data released this week, even as concerns over the country’s consumption and property sector lingered.
China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index ended up 0.2%, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.6%. Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng Index was up 0.1%.
January-February data released on Monday appears to point to a good start to 2024, but investors are concerned on data credibility, weak demand, deflation, credit growth slowdown and lack of effective policy, analysts at Jefferies said.
China left benchmark lending rates unchanged at a monthly fixing, in line with market expectations, after the central bank kept a key policy rate steady last week amid some signs of improvement in the broad economy.
Its central bank said it has reshuffled the monetary policy committee to include securities regulator head Wu Qing, vice central bank chief Xuan Changneng and two new academic members.
China’s CSI 300 real estate index edged down 0.1%, with state-backed Vanke in the spotlight as the country’s property sector continued to struggle.
Media stocks rose 3.4%, leading gains in China, with Zhejiang Huace Film & TV Co up to a maximum of 20%.
Foreign capital recorded net buying of 5.6 billion yuan ($777.84 million) via the Stock Connect scheme’s northbound link, after logging a net sell on Tuesday.
In Hong Kong, shares of China’s Tencent Music Entertainment jumped 11% as the company beat revenue estimates on Tuesday.
Shares of Tencent Holdings added 1.3%.
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