China stocks were up on Friday morning, on course to snap a three-day losing streak, as the property sector rebounded strongly on strength in China Vanke Co Ltd.’s, the country’s second largest developer.
Hong Kong stocks also rose, setting for a third week of gains, with support from the energy sector as oil prices advanced.
The benchmark CSI300 index rose 0.4 per cent, to 3,330.61 points at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.1 per cent, to 3,122.93 points.
The benchmark index has lost more than 0.5 per cent so far this week.
Investors cheered China Vanke Co Ltd.’s breakthrough in a high-profile corporate power tussle lasting for over a year, after its number two shareholder China Resources Group decided to sell its entire stake to Shenzhen Metro Group.
Shares of the industry bellwether jumped around 7 per cent on the mainland and 5.6 per cent in Hong Kong.
But gains in China were limited as investors were awaiting the upcoming corporate earnings season to start late on Friday, to justify a flurry of solid economic data in the world’s second largest economy.
Earlier this month, China’s manufacturing sector posted a monthly expansion for the fifth time in December, but the pace slowed more than expected amid the government’s effort to rein in soaring asset prices.
Sector performance in the mainland market was mixed, with property leading the gains, up around 2.3 per cent.
Insurance firms retreated 0.6 per cent despite their premium income rising almost 30 per cent in 2016, as investors stayed cautious amid a tightening regulatory environment.
Metallurgical Corporation of China Ltd slid around 2 per cent after closing at a six-week high in the previous session, as optimism fuelled by restructuring hopes quickly faded.
The tech-heavy ChiNext sub-index, China’s equivalent of the Nasdaq, was set to lose for a seventh session and hit a six-month intraday low as faster approvals for IPOs boosted the supply of small-caps.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index added 0.5 per cent, to 22,932.47 points, bringing its weekly gain to around 1.9 per cent, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index gained 0.7 per cent, to 9,792.44 points.
Nearly all sectors in the city gained modestly, with the energy sector the biggest performer, up nearly 2.4 per cent by the lunch break.
Oil majors including CNOOC Ltd and PetroChina Co Ltd rallied as oil prices held sharp gains from the previous two sessions.
