Mainland and Hong Kong stocks closed slightly up on Thursday, lifted by financial shares, as investors awaited a key policy readout after a Communist Party conclave in Beijing.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index ended up 186 points, or 0.7 percent, at 25,967.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed up 0.22 percent at 3,922 while the Shenzhen Component Index rose by a similar percentage to 13,025.

The combined turnover of these two indexes was 1.64 trillion yuan, down from 1.67 trillion yuan on Wednesday.

Shares related to coal, energy and metal led gains while those related to engineering machinery, oil and gas suffered major losses.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, gained 0.09 percent to close at 3,062.

Financial shares led gains onshore, up 0.8 percent, with Agriculture Bank of China hitting a record high.

The gains came as the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China wrapped up its fourth plenum on Thursday. The four-day meeting, which began on Monday, is expected to produce a communique outlining the government's economic, political and social agenda, including development plans for the next five years.

Sentiment was also helped by news that Vice Premier He Lifeng will hold trade talks with the United States in Malaysia from October 24 to 27, the Commerce Ministry said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, investors continued to take profits after a strong rally in artificial intelligence shares this year.

The CSI AI Index fell nearly 1 percent while the All Share Semiconductor index was down 0.8 percent.

"Some investors are considering rotating positions from technology to new consumption names in H-share market...but there's still plenty of concerns about the fundamentals," analysts at UBS said.

While Pop Mart delivered a strong beat in third-quarter revenue, investors harbour concerns about whether the firm can deliver more blockbuster IP like Labubu, especially when the Labubu resale price is falling, they said. Pop Mart International Group was down nearly 10 percent.

Onshore software stocks rose 1.4 percent as the Trump administration is considering a plan to curb a dizzying array of software-powered exports to China, from laptops to jet engines. (Reuters/Xinhua)