Mainland stocks were mixed while Hong Kong shares lost ground on Wednesday as investors looked past concerns over US tariff threats and positioned themselves for a long-awaited bull market.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index ended down 347 points, or 1.36 percent, at 25,176.

Auto shares dragged the Hang Seng Index, with Li Auto down more than 12 percent as the pricing of its new launch and competition concerned investors.

Tech majors traded in Hong Kong also fell, down nearly 3 percent in the largest single-day drop in more than two months.

Up north, Chinese stocks closed mixed on Wednesday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index up 0.17 percent to 3,615 while the Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.77 percent lower at 11,203.

The combined turnover of these two indexes was around 1.84 trillion yuan, up from 1.8 trillion yuan on Tuesday.

Stocks related to petroleum and ceramics led gains while stocks in the glass and auto sectors suffered major losses.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, lost 1.62 percent to close at 2,367.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose as much as 0.7 percent to its highest level since October. With this, it has climbed 20 percent from its last significant low, an accepted definition for a bull market, three months ago.

Chinese and US officials agreed to seek an extension of their 90-day tariff truce on Tuesday, following two days of what both sides described as constructive talks aimed at defusing a trade war between the world's two biggest economies that threatens global growth.

"Investors are increasingly insensitive to Sino-US trade talks and paying more attention to domestic issues," said Wang Zhuo, partner of Shanghai Zhuozhu Investment Management.

Earlier this week, Goldman Sachs raised its target for Chinese stocks, citing "brightened prospects for a US-China trade deal".

Low interest rates are nudging investors into stocks, especially high-dividend blue-chips, while China's drive to crack down on excessive competition in some industries is improving the outlook for corporate earnings, Wang said.

"Now that the index is entering bull market territory, money will undoubtedly keep flowing in. I don't see signs of froth, so the bull run has legs." (Reuters/Xinhua)