China stocks rose on Friday, led by information technology companies, as a U.S. legislation to compete with Chinese chipmakers stoked expectations of more domestic support.

 

** The CSI300 index rose 0.4%, to 4,117.85 points, at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.3%, to 3,198.11 points.

** The Hang Seng index added 0.1%, to 20,192.36 points, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises index gained 0.2%, to 6,890.90.

** China's CSI Information Technology index jumped 3.4%. The semiconductor sub-index soared nearly 6% on Friday and more than 13% for the week, and was set to log its best weekly performance in two years.

** The U.S. Senate last week passed sweeping legislation to subsidise the domestic semiconductor industry, hoping to boost companies as they compete with China.

** U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the Taiwanese parliament on Wednesday the U.S. chip bill would offer a good opportunity for U.S.-Taiwan cooperation in the chip industry, during her visit to the self-ruled island that China claims as its own.

** Most other sectors remained subdued, with banks , property developers and consumer staples each up less than 0.5%.

** China deployed scores of planes and fired live missiles near Taiwan on Thursday in its biggest drills in the Taiwan Strait, a day after Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.

** Geopolitical tensions aside, sentiment in Chinese A-shares remained low due to weak economic fundamentals, COVID-19 outbreaks and real estate sector woes.

** Tech companies listed in Hong Kong edged up 0.7%, with Alibaba down 2.1% as the e-commerce giant reported flat quarterly revenue growth for the first time. (Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)


Reuters