China stocks rise, Hong Kong slips as cautious investors await policy signals

China stocks ended up on Friday but the blue-chip benchmark was still hovering around nearly five-year lows, while Hong Kong shares fell as investors remained cautious about China's weak recovery and awaited clues from upcoming policy meetings. ** The blue-chip CSI 300 Index edged up 0.2%, and the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.1% at market close.

China stocks ended up on Friday but the blue-chip benchmark was still hovering around nearly five-year lows, while Hong Kong shares fell as investors remained cautious about China's weak recovery and awaited clues from upcoming policy meetings.

** The blue-chip CSI 300 Index edged up 0.2%, and the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.1% at market close. ** Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slipped 0.1%, and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index was down 0.3%.

** The CSI 300 Index lost 2.4% for the week, booking the worst week since Oct. 20, as ratings agency Moody's slapped a downgrade warning on China and Hong Kong's credit ratings, adding to investor concerns about China's already-weak recovery. ** Data on Thursday also showed an unexpected shrink in imports, although exports grew for the first time in six months in November.

** "It underscores the need to boost domestic demand," Bohai Securities said. ** In the coming two weeks, the market will shift its focus to policy signals, the brokerage added.

** China will be holding the annual Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC) this month, where top leaders will discuss policy plans and the outlook for the world's second-largest economy. ** Shares in artificial intelligence, communications equipment rose 3.3% and 4.4%, respectively, while real estate developers fell 1.2%.

** Overnight, Alphabet shares ended 5.3% higher as Wall Street cheered the launch of Gemini, saying the new artificial intelligence model could help narrow the gap in a race with Microsoft-backed OpenAI. ** Hong Kong-listed tech giants lost 0.4%.

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