China and Hong Kong stocks tracked rebounds in Asian markets on Thursday, as anxiety over the Middle East war was countered by investors' emboldened bets in Chinese tech shares after Beijing vowed to deepen investment in innovation.
But Chinese bonds and the yuan were little moved as China set its 2026 economic growth target at 4.5%-5% - lower than last year and signalled no appetite for big fiscal or monetary stimulus.
The policies unveiled at the opening session of China's parliament "are generally mild, without aggressive moves," said Yuan Yuwei, fund manager at Trinity Synergy Investments in Hong Kong.
He added that while global market rebounds inspired China's gains, uncertainty around the Iran conflict will continue to weigh on sentiment.
China's blue-chip CSI300 Index closed up 1%, and the Shanghai Composite Index added about 0.6%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng, which hit a two-month low on Wednesday, climbed as much as 1.9% before easing much of the gains in the afternoon.
China's 10-year government bond prices (CFTc1) were little changed. The yuan traded flat at 6.8956 per dollar at 0705 GMT.
Asian shares rallied on Thursday, pointing to a tentative recovery in risk appetite that has been hammered by the escalating war in the Middle East.
BEIJING VOWS TO EXPAND INVESTMENT
China on Thursday vowed to deepen investment in high-tech industries and scientific innovation, framing them as essential to bolstering national security and self-reliance amid rising geopolitical tensions and a rivalry with the U.S.
Shares of Chinese artificial intelligence firms, chipmakers and biotech companies jumped after the government pledged support to these emerging strategic industries.
"The policy signal is loud and clear," said Liu Chenjie, chief economist at Upright Asset Management.
"China will focus on technology advancement" and expand domestic demand.
On Thursday, China said it would build a "childbirth-friendly society" in the next five years, pledging to address concerns over employment, education, medical care, health and income.
But reflecting investor scepticism over whether Beijing will succeed in boosting domestic demand, China's consumption-related stocks (.CSI931068) fell.
Elsewhere, defence stocks gained 0.4% underperforming the broader market, after China announced a 7% increase in defence spending in 2026.
Property shares also lost ground in the absence of strong stimulus measures to prop up the struggling industry.
Marco Sun, chief financial market analyst at MUFG (China), said that policy signals imply that monetary policy will focus on "supporting 'new economy' sectors, particularly AI and related industries, through lower financing costs and targeted credit support, rather than broad-based stimulus."
Sumber : Reuters
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