SHANGHAI: Hong Kong shares rose on Monday after US Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell struck a dovish tone at the central bank’s Jackson Hole economic conference.

The Hang Seng index rose 0.5% to 25,539.54, while the China Enterprises Index gained 0.4% to 8,995.82.

Powell signalled the central bank will remain patient as it tries to nurse the economy back to full employment and gave no new clues on the start of bond-buying taper. The energy sub-index gained 2.7%, after China’s Sinopec Corp reported its highest first-half net profit since 2018 and unveiled plans to spend 30 billion yuan ($4.6 billion) on hydrogen energy by 2025.

Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd rose 4.3%, after its electric vehicle brand Zeekr said on Friday it raised $500 million in its first external funding.

The Hang Seng Tech Index gained 1.1%. Tech giants Meituan and Alibaba Group both went up 1.5%, while Tencent Holdings edged down 0.1%.

The industrial sub-index and the healthcare sub-index finished higher 3% and 2.8%, respectively.

Property developer China Vanke Co Ltd plunged 7%, after it posted weak earnings results amid a tightening property sector. The Hang Seng Property Index slipped 0.2%. The Hang Seng Finance Index was down 0.7%.