China stocks flat after touching 9-month high; Hong Kong gains on Goldman upgrade

HONG KONG, - China stocks gave up most of their gains and closed flat on Friday, weighed down by a drop in bank shares, while Hong Kong shares held on to gains after a Goldman upgrade.

** At market close, the Shanghai Composite index was barely changed to hold at 3,510.18 after touching a 9-month high in the morning session. The blue-chip CSI300 index was also flat with 0.1% gain.

** Still, the Shanghai Composite Index has added 1% for the week in a third straight week of gains, the longest winning streak since February.

** The rare earth sector led the gains with a surge of over 5% to its highest since early 2023. However banking stocks slid 2.4% in the afternoon session after hitting to a record high on Thursday.

** The real estate sector also edged down 0.3%, paring Thursday's rally spurred by unverified chatters that Beijing is mulling more measures to support property market.

** In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index closed 0.5% up at 24,485.49, also pulling back from a 4-month high hit during earlier trades. The Chinese H-share index listed in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, rose 0.2%.

** Biotech and tech shares led gains in Hong Kong, with the Hang Seng Tech Index adding 0.6%, while the Hang Seng Biotech Index jumped 1.3%.

** Goldman Sachs upgraded the city's stocks to market weight, citing stronger earnings growth driven by improvements in both capital markets and property activity supported by low local interest rates.

** Elsewhere, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, their first in-person meeting at a time of simmering trade tensions between the two major powers.

** "We still expect near-term volatility to rise and range-bound index moves in the offshore market. We prefer A-shares over offshore for now," Morgan Stanley's China strategist Laura Wang said in a note.

** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was also flat.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.

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