HK stocks inch up as all eyes turn to Xi-Trump summit

Hong Kong and mainland stocks eked out gains on Tuesday as investors assessed their positions ahead of a meeting of the presidents of China and the United States this week, while AI shares rose after officials of the two countries agreed to hold talks on the safety of artificial intelligence.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 45 points, or 0.2 percent, to 25,087 on turnover of HK$249.21 billion.

The tech index rose 14 points, or 0.3 percent, to 4,438 while the China enterprises index gained 22 points, or 0.3 percent, to 8,362.

Hong Kong shares of Alibaba Group hit a one-month high at one point after chief executive Eddie Wu said on Tuesday that the firm aims for its cloud global data centre capacity to surpass 20 GW by 2032.

Tencent ⁠Holdings jumped after it released a preview of its latest AI image-generation model.

Up north, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index inched up two points, or 0.06 percent, to 3,952.

The Shenzhen Component Index too barely registered movement, closing six points, or 0.05 percent, lower at 13,723 while the ChiNext barely moved the needle from its opening to end 0.91 percent, at 3,399.

Shanghai’s tech-focused Star50 index rose 0.5 percent while an AI sub-index advanced.

Senior Chinese and US officials will meet again in about two months in Shenzhen to discuss AI dangers and communications protocols in the ⁠event of AI safety incidents, ⁠US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday.

Bessent also offered positive comments about the Sino-US trade relations, ahead ⁠of President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the United States from September 23 to 25 at the invitation of his counterpart, Donald Trump.

“Our expectations for this state visit are limited, with our focus more on the optics and ⁠symbolism of the trip rather than actual outcomes,” said William Bratton, head of cash equity research for APAC at BNP Paribas.

“In addition to the extension of the Busan truce, we expect any new announcements to be focused on the setting of guardrails and frameworks to manage and entrench the status quo of ‘constructive strategic stability’ that both countries committed to post Trump’s May visit to China.”

In Seoul, the Kospi cut early gains to close just 10 points, or 0.15 percent, up at 7,017 on caution over oil prices ahead of the Chuseok Mid-Autumn festival holidays on Thursday and Friday. (Reuters/Xinhua)