Hong Kong stocks extended gains to close in green on Thursday as the US signaled some relief for China amid a tariff frenzy, with a latest levy of 25% on cars.
The Hang Seng Index rose 0.41%, or 95.48 points, to end at 23,578.80. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index added 0.27%, or 23.42 points, to 8,677.68.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to impose a 25% tariff on cars produced anywhere outside the US from April 2, according to an SCMP report.
Hong Kong-listed automakers were mixed after the news.
NIO (HKG:9866, SGX:NIO), Great Wall Motor (HKG:2333, SHA:601633), and Geely Automobile (HKG:0175) fell 5%, 2% and 1%, respectively.
On the other hand, BYD (HKG:1211) and Dongfeng Motor Group (HKG:0489) each rose 2%.
The Trump-led US government has hinted at a potential reduction of tariffs on China in a bid to secure the latter's support for a sale of Tiktok's US operations to a US firm, Bloomberg reported.
US firm ByteDance faced a mandate to sell the US operations of the social video platform under a law enacted under the Biden administration by Jan. 19.
The Trump government, which previously postponed the implementation of the law by 90 days, is now hinting at further delays if a deal cannot be clinched.
