Mainland and Hong Kong stocks ended higher on Tuesday, led by artificial intelligence and gold-related shares as sentiment was lifted by hopes of continued negotiations between the United States and ⁠Iran despite China's exports showing signs of weakness in March.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index ended up 211 points, or 0.82 percent, at 25,872.

The China enterprises index was up 69 points, or 0.81 percent, at 8,671 while the tech index was almost 30 points, or 0.62 percent, higher at 4,851.

Among individual stocks, Pop Mart shares jumped 6.5 percent after Chinese value investor Duan Yongping signalled interest ⁠in the stock in a post on his social platform.

Up north, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was up 38 points, or 0.95 percent, at 4,026.

The Shenzhen Component Index was 232 points, or 1.61 percent, higher at 14,639 while the ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, was 82 points, or 2.36 percent, up at 3,558.

US and Iranian negotiating teams could return to Islamabad this week, four sources said on Tuesday, days after talks between the ⁠two countries ended in the Pakistani capital without a ⁠breakthrough.

China's export engine ⁠slowed in March as buyers chasing an AI-fuelled future ran into the hard reality of war ⁠in the Middle East, which ‌has sparked an energy shock and complicated Beijing's push to keep growth on track.

Onshore ‌AI shares rose 2.2 percent while semiconductor stocks climbed 2.6 percent.

Non-ferrous metal shares gained ⁠2 percent while materials listed offshore were up 2.1 percent.

UBS China equity strategist Meng Lei expects ETFs, leveraged funds, ‌private funds and insurance money to be the key sources of new capital in onshore shares.

Given near-term uncertainty from geopolitical risks, he recommended a balanced allocation between growth and ⁠value and between ‌large and small caps.

Once markets stabilise, ‌he favours growth and cyclical styles, citing a "slow-bull" backdrop supportive of growth, and potentially positive PPI ‌and improving industrial profit growth as tailwinds for cyclicals.

In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index jumped 1,374 points, or 2.43 percent, to 57,877, its highest close since March 2, while the broader Topix climbed 32 points, or 0.87 percent, to 3,755.

In Seoul, the Kospi ended 159 points, or 2.74 percent, at 5,967. (Reuters & Xinhua)



Edited by Thomas McAlinden