China stocks extend rally to 7-month high following Mideast calm
At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.1% at 3,459.66 points, the highest level since December. China's blue-chip CSI300 index was little changed.
In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index weakened 0.5% after closing at the highest level since March on Wednesday.
Lifting onshore markets higher, the CSI Defence Index rallied 1.9%, while the AI subsector index climbed 1.3% and the info tech sector added 0.6%.
Financial sector sub-index weakened 0.2% and the brokers sector lost 0.6% to give up some of the gains seen on Wednesday.
China stocks closes at six-month high as ME truce lifts sentiment
Markets have been soothed by a ceasefire between Israel and Iran that appeared to be holding, reducing the risks of disruptions to the global oil trade and underpinning sentiment.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs said in a note on Thursday that they have observed strength across China assets from the trading desks with long-only funds and hedge funds both getting more active. Clients' feedback now expect more retail participation following the recent rally.
Still, the upcoming earnings season and the outlook for the second half will be the key focus as there's limited visibility on macro support, they added.
Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.1%, while Japan's Nikkei index was up 1.3%.
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