SHANGHAI: Tech shares rose across mainland China and Hong Kong markets on Tuesday, led by gains in Tencent and Meituan, while investors cautiously evaluated Middle East peace talks.
** At the close, China's tech-focused STAR 50 was up 1.6%, Shenzhen's startup board ChiNext rose 2.7%, while Hong Kong's tech shares jumped 4.7%.
** The benchmark Shanghai Composite index edged up 0.4%, and the blue-chip CSI300 index advanced 1.5%.
** Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index ended up 2.5%, the biggest daily rise in nearly two months.
** Non-ferrous metal shares climbed, with a sub-index tracking the sector up 3.3%. And AI shares gained 2.9%.
** Shares of Tencent Holdings leapt 10.5% after the Financial Times reported the company moved closer to launching an AI agent for WeChat's 1.4 billion Chinese users.
** Chinese food delivery leader Meituan jumped 9.3%. It posted a third consecutive quarterly loss on Monday and met revenue growth estimates, but a year of subsidy-fuelled competition in China's one-hour delivery space showed signs of easing.
** "Markets are entering June balancing renewed geopolitical risks from U.S.-Iranian military exchanges against continued enthusiasm for AI-driven growth and technology investment," said Bob Savage, head of markets macro strategy at BNY.
** "Meanwhile, China stands out as the only major emerging market attracting inflows across the equity, fixed income and currency markets."
** Lebanon announced on Monday a partial ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel.
** Earlier, Iranian state media said Tehran was halting indirect negotiations with the U.S. and might end the ceasefire, citing the war in Lebanon. U.S. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, said talks with Iran were ongoing "at a rapid pace."
** Separately, Knowledge Atlas Technology JSC, also known as Zhipu AI, on Monday said it intends to apply for a domestic listing in Shanghai. - Reuters
