Hong Kong stocks jump, China’s CSI 1000 logs historic rally amid market intervention as regulator pledges to stem rout

The China Securities Regulatory Commission tightened securities lending, warned against manipulation and ‘vicious short selling’

Central Huijin Investment, a unit of China’s sovereign wealth fund, to increase purchases in exchange-traded funds in bid to stabilise market

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Bull sculptures outside the Exchange Square in Central, where the Hong Kong stock exchange is located. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Published: 10:48am, 6 Feb 2024Updated: 5:23pm, 6 Feb 2024

Stocks in Hong Kong rallied by the most in six months while equities in mainland China notched a historic gain amid signs of market intervention as the nation’s sovereign wealth fund made its involvement public. In Beijing, the securities regulator imposed fresh curbs on short selling.

The Hang Seng Index advanced 4 per cent to 16,136.87 on Tuesday to log its biggest gain since July 25. The Tech Index rallied 6.8 per cent. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks 50 major mainland companies, advanced 4.9 per cent for its biggest gain since March last year.

The Shanghai Composite Index surged 3.2 per cent, while the Shenzhen Composite Index logged a 5.1 per cent gain for its best day in five years. The CSI 1000 index of smaller-capitalised companies soared by a record 8.1 per cent, before paring it to 7 per cent at the close of trading.

“Policymakers are worried about such perennial declines in stocks and obviously want stocks to stabilise before the coming Lunar New Year,” said Wang Zheng, chief investment officer at Jingxi Investment Management in Shanghai. “These measures will work for now to ease selling pressure.”

In Hong Kong, Alibaba Group surged 7.6 per cent to HK$76, Meituan gained 6.5 per cent to HK$69.25, and Tencent added 4 per cent to HK$290.80. China’s biggest chip maker SMIC rose 8.6 per cent to HK$15.34 and developer Longfor Group rallied 10 per cent to HK$9.18. EV maker BYD advanced 5.4 per cent to HK$180.90, and peer Geely Auto soared 7.5 per cent to HK$8.19.