Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong stocks closed higher on Wednesday, led by mining and battery shares, as a rally in gold prices and the strong Hong Kong debut of CATL boosted sentiment.

Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index ended trading for the day up 146.30 points, or 0.62 percent, at 23,827.78.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index climbed 0.84 percent to end at 8,660.94 while the Hang Seng Tech Index jumped 0.51 percent to close at 5,342.41.

Shares of electric vehicle battery giant CATL rose 10.2 percent after jumping 16 percent in their trading debut on Tuesday.

Battery concept stock Gotion High Tech traded onshore surged 10 percent.

Hong Kong's IPO market has seen a sharp revival this year, with total proceeds for the year to date reaching US$9 billion, a 320 percent year-on-year increase, according to UBS.

UBS expects the premium of China's onshore A-shares over their Hong Kong-listed counterparts to narrow in the near term, citing easing US-China tariff tensions and potential renewed investor optimism around artificial intelligence, particularly if DeepSeek unveils an updated model.

Mining-related shares climbed after gold prices rose to their highest levels in a week. Zijin Mining climbed 5.9 percent.

Hang Seng Materials Index rose 3.7 percent.

Across the border, stocks closed higher, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.21 percent at 3,387.57.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.44 percent higher at 10,294.22.

The combined turnover of these two indices stood at about 1.17 trillion yuan, flat from the previous trading day.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, gained 0.83 percent to close at 2,065.39.

Morgan Stanley analysts raised their targets for Chinese stock indices, pointing to ongoing structural improvements and recent positive developments in tariffs and corporate earnings.

It now sees the MSCI China at 78, the Hang Seng Index at 24,500, and the CSI 300 at 4,000 by June 2026 – implying upside potential of 5 percent for the first two and 3 percent for the latter. (Reuters/Xinhua)