China, Hong Kong shares gain on hopes of Mideast conflict easing

2026-03-10 - 10:04

Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index gained 2.2%. (EPA Images pic) SHANGHAI: China and Hong Kong stocks closed higher today, both rebounding from multi-month lows, as investors grew optimistic after US president Donald Trump signalled the Middle East conflict could “end soon”. China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index rose 1.3%, while the Shanghai Composite Index firmed 0.7%. Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng Index gained 2.2%. China’s export growth quickened in the January-February period, customs data showed, keeping the world’s second-largest economy on track to top its record US$1.2 trillion trade surplus over the course of 2026. Risk sentiment rebounded across Asia after Trump predicted a quick end to the Middle East war, knocking off oil prices from recent highs. Energy shares lagged: onshore energy fell 4.3%, Hong Kong energy slipped 1.8% and the CSI Coal Index dropped 3.3%. Yesterday, China raised regulated retail gasoline and diesel ceiling prices by the most since March 2022, tracking a surge in global oil after the US-Israeli war on Iran has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint. Tech majors listed in Hong Kong climbed 2.4%, with Tencent up 7.3%. Onshore artificial intelligence stocks rose 2.1%. Analysts at Shenzhen Oriental Harbor Investment Management said they did not expect the Iran conflict to hit the global economy as hard as in 2022, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and pandemic-era supply strains drove broad surges in commodities and traded goods, fuelling global inflation, Federal Reserve rate hikes and steep US equity losses.