Hong Kong, mainland stocks rise as US pauses auto tariffs for one month

Hong Kong and Chinese stocks jumped by midday on Thursday, following a global stock rally as the US paused auto tariffs on Canada and Mexico for a month. 

The benchmark Hang Seng Index increased by 622 points, or 2.64 percent to 24,216 points by noon. The market turnover also rose to HK$216.78 billion. 

Shares of CK Hutchison (0001) surged by another 11 percent to HK$52.65 on the back of a 21 percent gain a day earlier. 

The Hang Seng Tech Index grew 4.7 percent to 6,029 points at noon. 

Alibaba (9988) rose 7.2 percent to HK$139.30 after releasing a new AI model it claims performs like DeepSeek but with significantly less data required. 

The best performer among blue chip stocks was Kuaishou Technology (1024), whose shares went up by nearly 14 percent to HK$59.85. 

In the mainland, the Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index rose 1.05 percent to 3,377 points and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Composite Index gained 1.8 percent to 2,091 points at the midday close.

STAFF REPORTER