** China's blue-chip CSI300 Index closed up 1.0%,
while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.6%.
** Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index was up 2.3%,
and the China Enterprises Index rose 3.0%, both
recording their biggest jump in three weeks.
** The Fed on Wednesday raised rates by 25 basis points (bps), but indicated it was on the verge of pausing further increases after the recent collapse of two U.S. banks.
** Following the Fed's move, the Hong Kong central bank on Thursday raised its base rate charged through the overnight discount window by 25 bps to 5.25%. As the city's currency is pegged to the greenback in a tight range, Hong Kong's monetary policy moves in lock-step with the U.S.
** Investors' risk sentiment towards Hong Kong shares may be corrected after the Fed "dovishly" raised rates and the Swiss and U.S. regulators quickly responded the banking crisis with policy support, Huatai Securities wrote in a note.
** Foreign investors snapped up Chinese shares, with overseas net buying via the Stock Connect surpassing 4.8 billion yuan ($704 million), in a ninth straight session of net capital inflow.
** Hong Kong-listed tech giants jumped 4.7%, their
biggest gain in three weeks. Tencent soared 8.2% after
its earnings release, while Meituan and Alibaba leaped 8.3% and 4.0%, respectively.
** In China, CSI 5G Communication shares jumped
3.8%, information technology stocks added 4.1%, and
semiconductor shares gained 4.3%.
** China Evergrande Group on Wednesday announced
plans for restructuring its $22.7 billion in offshore debt.
China's CSI Real Estate Index dropped 0.4%.
($1 = 6.8193 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
