Mainland stocks ended higher on Monday, tracking gains in regional peers, while Beijing called for more efforts to stabilise the market.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index inched down 32 points, or 0.1 percent, to end the day at 24,448 on turnover of HK$173.71 billion.

The tech index dropped 37 points, or 0.9 percent, to 4,040 while the China enterprises index fell 13 points, or 0.2 percent, to 8,260.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 11 points, or 0.32 percent, to close at 3,660 on turnover of 682.53 billion yuan while the blue-chip CSI300 index inched up 0.1 percent.

The Shenzhen Component Index fell 30 points, or 0.27 percent, to 11,145, on turnover of 800 billion yuan while the ChiNext Index inched down six points, or 0.27 percent, to close at 2,458 on turnover of 402 billion yuan.

Shanghai's tech-focused Star50 index gained 0.3 percent.

Shanghai's gains followed a pledge by the State Council on Friday to improve mechanisms to stabilise the capital market and enhance the stock market's inherent stability, state television CCTV reported.

"China's economic data and equity performance have again breached policymakers' pain threshold, prompting fresh equity market support measures," analysts at Societe Generale said in a note.

"These may put a floor under sentiment, but sustained upside requires stronger corporate profits, hence better domestic demand and reflation – still elusive without more forceful fiscal support."

China's producer inflation accelerated to its fastest rate in nearly four-and-a-half years in October as higher global oil prices raised manufacturing costs, even as consumer inflation cooled amid weak domestic demand, data showed on Monday.

China's goods exports are expected to have surged by a third in October, a poll showed, a helpful offset to weak domestic demand even as a year-to-date trade surplus of more than US$1 trillion risks further antagonising trading partners.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei advanced 1,340 points, or 2.33 percent, to close at 58,775, recouping part of Friday's six percent slump.

The broader Topix climbed 110 points, or 2.97 percent, to 3,818.

In Seoul, the Kospi closed down 40 points, or 0.81 percent, at 5,018, the benchmark's lowest level in nine months, in a choppy trading session led by a slump in battery makers while a rebound in chipmakers capped losses.

The Kospi's losses came amid news that Nvidia chief Jensen Huang's daughter, Madison, cancelled a planned visit to Seoul for an Nvidia conference that was set to begin on Monday, according to companies she had been scheduled to meet.

Her cancellation came as her father admitted on Sunday to having had an affair.

Nvidia's shares tumbled more than six percent in Frankfurt trading, extending last week's selloff and pushing the stock to fresh multi-month lows.

At those levels, the chipmaker stood to lose about US$270 billion from its closing price on Friday, according to LSEG Datastream.

"The market's probably telling you now this does no favours to the stock whatsoever in a time when there's a lot of conjecture as to the build-out of data centres," said Chris Weston, head of research at brokerage Pepperstone in Melbourne.

But Weston said he did not think Huang, whom he described as the "godfather of AI", would be replaced.

"If we genuinely thought he was going to step down ... the stock would be down – it would be an absolute bloodbath, to be honest,” he said. (Agencies)



Edited by Tony Sabine