Mainland and Hong Kong stocks closed higher on Tuesday, extending their winning streaks to a fifth consecutive month, buoyed by optimism over policy support ahead of key holidays.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index ended up 232 points, or 0.87 percent, at 26,855, putting its gains for the month at 7 percent.

Shares of Zijin Gold International rose up to 66 percent in their Hong Kong trading debut

Across the border, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.52 percent at 3,882 while the Shenzhen Component Index rose 0.35 percent to 13,526. The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, closed flat at 3,238.

The blue-chip CSI300 Index rose 3 percent in September, marking its longest monthly rally since October 2017.

Onshore semiconductor shares rose 2 percent after DeepSeek released a new experimental model it says trains more efficiently and handles longer text sequences better than previous versions.

Also supporting sentiment was news that China would deploy 500 billion yuan in capital to accelerate investment projects.

The launch of the programme suggests Beijing is concerned about the growth outlook, especially about the slump in investment in July and August, reinforcing increasingly cautious views for the second half, said Ting Lu, chief China economist at Nomura.

China's manufacturing activity shrank for a sixth month in September, an official survey showed, suggesting producers are waiting for further stimulus to boost domestic demand.

Market reaction was limited after the United States expanded its export blacklist to crack down on Chinese subsidiaries.

Investors are now awaiting China's Communist Party meeting, set for October 20-23, where policymakers will chart the next five-year economic and social development plan.

China markets will be closed from October 1 to 8 for the Golden Week holiday, while Hong Kong markets will be closed on October 1 and 7. (Reuters/Xinhua)