** China's blue-chip CSI300 Index edged down 0.1%
by the lunch break, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.6%.
** Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index was up 1.0%,
while the China Enterprises Index added 1.6%.
** Financial stocks along with state-owned enterprise (SOE)
themes surged in the session.
** Bank of China Ltd , Bank of Communications Co
Ltd , and China Pacific Insurance Group Co Ltd soared 6.0%, 5.2%, and 8.1%, respectively.
** Hang Seng Mainland Banks Index gained 2.9%, with
Ping An Insurance Group Co of China Ltd up 6.2%.
** SinoSteel Engineering & Technology Co Ltd and
China Science Publishing & Media Ltd rose around 10%
each.
** Despite news that China's tourism rebounded to pre-COVID
19 levels in the May Day holiday as the number of domestic trips
rose by more than two-thirds from a year earlier, CSI tourism
shares were down 4.5%.
** Meanwhile, China's factory activity unexpectedly dipped
in April, a private sector survey showed on Thursday, due to
softer domestic demand and suggesting the manufacturing sector
is losing momentum amid a bumpy post-COVID recovery.
** "The headline Caixin Manufacturing Purchasing Managers'
Index fell to 49.5 in April from 50.0 in March, suggesting a
modest decline in activity in the manufacturing sector on the
back of subdued demand," analysts at Goldman Sachs said.
** Following U.S. Federal Reserve, the Hong Kong Monetary
Authority (HKMA) on Thursday raised its base rate charged
through the overnight discount window by 25 basis points to
5.50%, its highest since January 2008.
** HKMA also bought HK$4.671 billion ($595.1 million) from
the market in New York trading hours to stop the Hong Kong
dollar weakening and breaking its peg to the U.S. dollar.
($1 = 7.8495 Hong Kong dollars)
(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Varun H K)
SHANGHAI, May 4 (Reuters) - Shanghai and Hong Kong
stocks rose on Thursday, led by gains in financials and
state-owned enterprise after the May Day holiday, while shared
traded in Shenzhen were down.
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