Hong Kong shares rose on Thursday after a slew of softer US economic data raised investor bets on Federal Reserve interest rate cuts later this year.

The Hang Seng Index ended up 49 points, or 0.3 percent, at 18,028.

At the close, the Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.8 percent at 2,957 points, while the smaller Shenzhen index ended down 1.6 percent. (Reuters)