China stocks end higher on premier's vow to stabilise jobs, stimulus hopes

China stocks closed higher on Thursday after Premier Li Keqiang vowed to stabilise employment and revive disrupted supply chains, while a further drop in the number of daily COVID-19 cases implied the worst might be over, kindling stimulus hopes. ** The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.7% to 3,921.11, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.6% to 2,975.48.

China stocks closed higher on Thursday after Premier Li Keqiang vowed to stabilise employment and revive disrupted supply chains, while a further drop in the number of daily COVID-19 cases implied the worst might be over, kindling stimulus hopes.

** The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.7% to 3,921.11, while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.6% to 2,975.48. ** The Hang Seng index rose 1.7%, to 20,276.17, while the China Enterprises index gained 2.0%, to 6,918.62 points.

** Daily new coronavirus caseload dropped for a fifth straight day. Mainland China reported 11,367 new coronavirus cases for Wednesday, down from 14,298 new cases a day earlier. ** Traders were closely watching if Beijing can successfully arrest a severe outbreak and avert a Shanghai-like lockdown, as the capital city closed some public spaces and rolled out three rounds of mass testing this week across a number of districts.

** To create more jobs, China will promote healthy development of its platform economy, according to a State Council meeting chaired by Premier Li. ** China will also tackle bottlenecks in supply chains affected by COVID-19 by easing congestion at ports and airports and restoring delivery services, according to the meeting.

** "It's still too early for policymakers to give up the 5% growth bottom line for this year," economists at Macquarie Capital said in a note. "Once the current COVID wave is under control, they will likely double down policy supports to make up for the loss from lockdowns." ** Real estate developers and banks rose 3.9% and 2.1%, respectively, while liquor makers added 2.8%.

** Energy stocks gained 4.9%. Coal miners jumped 6.3%, led by China Coal Energy and Shaanxi Coal Industry Co, with both up roughly 10% on robust Q1 results. ** Tech giants listed in Hong Kong climbed 2.2% following Premier Li's pledge, with index heavyweight Alibaba Group rising 4.4% to be the biggest boost to the Hang Seng index.

** Two sources told Reuters that Alibaba plans to expand its Southeast Asian arm Lazada to Europe as the Chinese e-commerce company seeks further overseas growth amid slowing opportunities at home. ** Chinese language internet search provider Baidu Inc added more than 4% as Baidu and Pony.ai said they had received permits to deploy driverless robotaxis on open Chinese roads for the first time.

** Hong Kong shares of China Coal Energy surged 10.2%, while the energy sector rose 4%. ** Standard Chartered jumped 10.4%, the biggest daily rise since November 2020, after it posted a forecast-beating 6% rise in first-quarter profit.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)