** China's blue-chip CSI 300 Index gained 0.06% by the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.29%.
** Hang Seng Index gained 0.41% and Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 0.47%.
** Asia's stock markets jumped on Thursday after Powell said
a "disinflationary" process was underway, bolstering risk
appetite and expectations that the U.S. central bank will soon
end its monetary tightening streak.
** The Fed scaled back interest rate hike to 25 basis points
as expected, but said benchmark overnight interest rate will be
increased further and remain elevated at least through 2023.
** China published draft rules on Wednesday to broaden the
registration-based initial public offering (IPO) system, marking
a big step towards reforming the world's second-biggest stock
market.
** Citic and CICC wil be key beneficiaries, as reform will
boost their A share underwriting fees, JP Morgan said in a
research note.
** Hong Kong shares of CICC rose 3.85%, while
Citic inched up 0.22%.
** By sector, semiconductor in China
jumped 2.93%, while the CSI Media Index climbed
2.41%. In Hong Kong, the healthcare index rose 3.09%.
** The Hang Seng Tech Index rose 1.74%, with
internet stocks leading gains.
** Hong Kong-listed Weibo shares surged 8.75%,
Baidu jumped 6.93%, and Tencent was 1.45%
higher.
** “One driver for further upside of the Hang Seng Index is
China big-cap tech stocks," said May Ling Wee, a portfolio
manager at Janus Henderson Investors.
** "If internet companies can show better revenue growth
this year, as their businesses recover alongside the economy,
this will be a driver of their share price and thereby the Hang
Seng Index."
(Reporting by Georgina Lee; editing by Eileen Soreng)
