China, Hong Kong shares rise, supported by mining and battery stocks

SHANGHAI, - China and Hong Kong stocks rose on Wednesday, led by mining and battery shares, as a rally in gold prices and the strong Hong Kong debut of CATL boosted sentiment.

** China's blue-chip CSI 300 Index added 0.7% by the lunch break, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.4%. Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng was up 0.5%.

** Shares of electric vehicle battery giant CATL rose nearly 12% after jumping 16% in their trading debut on Tuesday. Battery concept stock Gotion High Tech traded onshore surged 10%.

** Hong Kong's IPO market has seen a sharp revival in 2025, with total proceeds year-to-date reaching $9 billion, a 320% year-on-year increase, according to UBS.

** UBS expects the premium of China's onshore A-shares over their Hong Kong-listed counterparts to narrow in the near term, citing easing U.S.-China tariff tensions and potential renewed investor optimism around artificial intelligence, particularly if Deepseek unveils an updated model.

** Mining-related shares climbed after gold prices rose to their highest levels in a week. Zijin Mining climbed 4.5%.

** Shares of CMOC Group, the world's top cobalt miner, rose 1.8% after it called on Democratic Republic of Congo last week to lift a ban on exports of the battery metal, sources told Reuters.

** Hang Seng Materials Index rose 3%.

** Morgan Stanley analysts raised their targets for Chinese stock indexes, pointing to ongoing structural improvements and recent positive developments in tariffs and corporate earnings.

** The bank now sees the MSCI China at 78, the Hang Seng Index at 24,500, and the CSI 300 at 4,000 by June 2026 — implying upside potential of 5% for the first two and 3% for the latter.

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