Hong Kong stocks rise as investors fall back in love with Chinese EV makers and tech firms

Hong Kong shares rose on Wednesday, buoyed by a rally in Chinese electric-car makers while technology stocks also rebounded.

The Hang Seng Index rose 0.4 per cent to 23,442.86 as of 10.17am, bouncing back from Tuesday’s close at the lowest level since March 4. The Hang Seng Tech Index gained 0.6 per cent. On the mainland, both the CSI 300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index edged down 0.1 per cent.

Investors took a cue from a tech stock rally on Wall Street overnight and began to hunt for bargains following a recent correction, brokers said.

Mainland Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker Nio jumped 2.2 per cent to HK$34.55 after its CEO William Li said in a media briefing that the Shanghai-based carmaker expected to break even in the fourth quarter of this year. Its domestic rival Xpeng climbed 3.1 per cent to HK$82.25 after slumping 7.5 per cent on Tuesday.

The US S&P 500 added 0.2 per cent on Tuesday driven by tech stocks as Tesla extended a five-day gain to 28 per cent.

In Shenzhen, Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), the world’s largest producer of EV batteries, gained 0.7 per cent to 261.2 yuan after its Hong Kong listing plan, likely to raise US$5 billion to reinforce its international expansion, was given the green light by mainland China’s securities regulator.