SHANGHAI: China stocks closed up on Tuesday, led by property shares, as a slew of measures helped lift sentiment in the sector, while Hong Kong shares retreated after a 10-day winning streak.

The CSI real estate index rose 2.9% after China’s first-tier city Shenzhen eased some home purchase restrictions. The index was up 16% after bottoming on April 24.

“Our Real Estate team has recently noticed signs of a recovery in the property sector. Cheap valuations, policy support and no major downside surprises on the earnings front should keep the risk/reward for the market compelling,” HSBC analysts said in a note.

Meanwhile, foreign capital sold a net 2.1 billion yuan ($291.04 million) worth of shares via the Stock Connect scheme’s northbound link.

At the close, the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.22% at 3,147.74. The blue-chip CSI300 index was up 0.03%, with its financial sector sub-index higher by 0.08%, the consumer staples sector rose 0.42%, the real estate index was up 2.88% and the healthcare sub-index fell 0.01%.

The smaller Shenzhen index ended up 0.24% and the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was weaker by 0.141%.

Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.24%, while Japan’s Nikkei index closed up 1.57%.

At 07:51, the yuan was quoted at 7.2152 per US dollar, 0.1% weaker than the previous close of 7.2077.

At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was down 98.93 points or 0.53% at 18,479.37. The Hang Seng China Enterprises index fell 0.7% to 6,526.67.

The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares rose 0.9%, while the IT sector dipped 1.9%, the financial sector ended 0.02% lower and the property sector rose 0.88%.