Mainland stocks closed higher on Monday as investors continued to position defensively while booking gains in the tech sector, after President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump agreed to a trade deal truce last week.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index ended up 251 points, or 0.97 percent, at 26,158.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 0.98 percent to end at 9,258 while the Hang Seng Tech Index edged up 0.24 percent to 5,922.

Gold jewellery seller Laopu Gold tumbled 7.2 percent, leading losses in gold-related shares after China cut gold tax exemptions for some retailers which may curb buying.

On the mainland, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.55 percent to 3,976 while the Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.19 percent higher at 13,404.

The combined turnover of these two indexes was 2.11 trillion yuan, down from 2.32 trillion yuan on Friday.

Shares related to the media and entertainment, shipbuilding and coal sectors led gains while those in non-ferrous metals, chemical fibres and environmental protection industries saw major losses.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, gained 0.29 percent to close at 3,196.

Tech-related shares tumbled, with the semiconductor sector slumping as much as 4.2 percent and the tech-focused Star50 Index down one percent.

The rare earth sector slipped as much as 3.4 percent.

Sentiment appeared to be turning more defensive following the much-anticipated Trump-Xi meeting.

The deal includes US tariff reductions and a pause in Beijing's new restrictions on exports of rare earth minerals and magnets, extending a delicate trade truce between the world's two largest economies.

"Some have started taking gains after a very good run," despite remaining bullish on the "Fed put/Trump put" optimism and China's technological advances, Bank of America said in a note to clients.

"We advise investors to lock in some gains on the rises and accumulate on the corrections, and rotate into more defensive positioning towards year end," they said.

On the data front, China's factory activity in October expanded at a slower pace as new orders and output both waned amid tariff anxiety, a private-sector survey showed on Monday. (Reuters/Xinhua)