Hong Kong stocks rise 3% as technology shares rally

Hong Kong stocks rose 3% on Thursday as technology shares led gains, while mainland Chinese equities advanced more modestly, according to Hong Kong and mainland market data. The move followed an overnight rise on Wall Street after Democrats won the US midterm elections, while energy shares fell as crude oil prices declined.

Alibaba gains more than 7% as Hong Kong technology shares rise

Alibaba rose more than 7% during Thursday's Hong Kong session, according to Hong Kong market data. Technology shares were the biggest drivers of the Hong Kong market move.

Tencent rises more than 5% during the Hong Kong session

Tencent gained more than 5% during Thursday's Hong Kong session, Hong Kong market data showed.

PetroChina falls 7% as crude prices decline

PetroChina dropped 7% by midday, according to Hong Kong market data.

Mainland indexes record smaller gains while energy shares decline

The Hang Seng Tech Index rose 5%, according to Hong Kong market data. The CSI300 Index gained 0.4% by the lunch break, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.1%, mainland Chinese market data showed.

The Shenzhen Component Index climbed 1.69%; the ChiNext Composite Index advanced 1.24%; and the STAR50 Index rose 2.11%. Brent crude futures fell nearly 9% overnight, according to crude oil market data.

Zhao points to possible tighter technology controls

Cliff Zhao, chief economist at CCB International, said competition between Washington and Beijing in advanced technology could continue. Reuters reported Zhao as saying Democrats could increase congressional oversight of Commerce Department export licences and push additional restrictive legislation affecting China's technology sector.

Zhao said China's domestic technology supply chain could become more differentiated. He said hardware exporters dependent on US artificial-intelligence capital spending could face pressure, while GPUs, semiconductor equipment, advanced packaging and computing infrastructure could benefit from China's push for technological self-reliance.

US midterm result precedes the technology-led move

The Hong Kong and mainland gains followed an overnight rise on Wall Street after investors welcomed reduced political uncertainty from Democrats' victory in the US midterm elections, according to US and Asian market data.

Mainland market data showed that investors favoured gold miners, solar power companies, semiconductor stocks and new energy shares. The same data showed selling pressure on oil and optical communication stocks.

Reuters reported that Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, said US-China relations could face greater uncertainty next year.