China stocks extend gains led by coal, AI; HK shares up

(Updates to market close) SHANGHAI, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Chinese stocks rose for a fourth consecutive session post-holidays on Thursday, led by coal and artificial intelligence shares, while energy shares led gains in Hong Kong.

(Updates to market close) SHANGHAI, Feb 22 (Reuters) -

Chinese stocks rose for a fourth consecutive session post-holidays on Thursday, led by coal and artificial intelligence shares, while energy shares led gains in Hong Kong. ** China's blue-chip CSI 300 Index closed up 0.9%, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.3%.

** Hong Kong benchmark Hang Seng Index was up 1.5%. ** Coal stocks climbed 5.3%, after China's top coal-producing region of Shanxi launched a campaign to curb overproduction.

** Shares of oil and gas producer PetroChina rose 5.7%. ** Coal and energy shares also climbed in Hong Kong, with Hang Seng Composite Energy Index up 5.2%.

** Meanwhile, artificial intelligence (AI) stocks surged nearly 4% before closing up around 2.9%, after Nvidia on Wednesday forecast a roughly threefold surge in quarterly revenue, beating expectations. ** Cambricon Technologies, one of China's top AI-related chipmakers, jumped around 10%.

** Morgan Stanley equity strategists said in a note that the state-owned enterprises reform theme recently gained investors' attention as top-down policy focus seems to have returned. ** China Traditional Chinese Medicine Holdings surged more than 20% after a consortium led by state-owned pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm has revived a take-private bid for the company.

** Despite stock market performance improving on a raft of market rescue measures, investor sentiment can still be fragile without a material pickup in economic activities. ** "Offshore investors in general remain cautious. They believe the recent rebound is mainly driven by short-covering and bearishness ahead of the Lunar New Year," said analysts at UBS, adding that the property downturn and deflation remain major concerns.

** Meanwhile, Chinese hedge fund managers are scrambling to soothe investors after a rout in small-value stocks, even as regulators step up scrutiny of major market players' activities as they try to revive the country's ailing stock markets.