China stocks rise on construction, rare earth gains
HONG KONG : China stocks hit multi-month highs today, led by rare earth and construction sectors, while Hong Kong shares rose as tech stocks rallied following a government rebuke on price wars.
At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index rose 0.4% to 3,549.89, the highest since last October.
China's blue-chip CSI300 index added 0.2% to a seven-month high.
Leading the gains, the CSI Construction & Engineering Index jumped as much as 4% after China began construction of a US$170 billion hydropower dam in Tibet.
The rare earth sector advanced nearly 3% following a Reuters report that Beijing has quietly issued its first 2025 rare earth mining and smelting quotas.
'Positive catalysts from anti-involution policies and strength in the tech sector lifted sentiment, while a solid economic foundation fuelled the market rally that's surprising in its timing yet reasonable,' Huatai Securities said.
Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index grew 0.3% after briefly topping the 25,000 level for the first time since February 2022.
Platform companies Meituan, JD.com and Alibaba rose between 1.8% and 2.8% after Beijing summoned the three and asked them to cool a bruising price war in an ongoing 'anti-involution' campaign.
This came after regulators called for 'rational competition' in the auto and food delivery sectors to regulate intense price wars and promote sustainable development, dubbed by investors as an 'anti-involution' campaign.
The biotech sector declined 1.4% to pare a nearly 13% rally last week, weighing on gains in Hong Kong.
Looking ahead, Chinese policymakers are expected to hold the July Politburo meeting in the coming days to discuss economic policies for the second half of this year (H2 2025).
'They may reiterate their pledge to boost domestic demand and to stabilise exports, employment and the property market instead of rolling out broad-based, significant stimulus in the near term,' analysts at Goldman Sachs said.
They also anticipate continued policy pledges to regulate disorderly price competition and contain the 'involution'.
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