REFILE-China, HK stocks extend gains on tech-powered rally

By Jiaxing Li

HONG KONG, March 6 (Reuters) - Chinese and Hong Kong shares rallied on Thursday, led by consumer and tech stocks, as investors continued to see policy signals from China's annual parliamentary meeting as positives.

At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index .SSEC was up 1.05% at 3,377.22 points, and the blue-chip CSI300 index .CSI300 was up 1.25%.

Leading gains onshore, the chip sector subindex .CSI931865 surged 4.5% and the consumer staples sector .CSI000912 climbed 1.14%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index .HSI was up 2.64% at 24,216.93, and the Hang Seng Tech Index .HSTECH rallied 4.7%, with market heavyweight Alibaba 9988.HK surging 7.2% and Tencent 700.HK advancing 5.8%.

Despite the moderate fiscal package announced at China's rubber-stamp parliament meeting, the NPC's message of focusing on tech innovation and consumption was especially encouraging and should help to sustain the market's momentum, Morgan Stanley strategist Laura Wang said in a note on Thursday.

"We remain positive on offshore equities and expect the latest tariff hike to disrupt but not derail the market's momentum."

Goldman Sachs raised its target price for emerging market stocks on Thursday, projecting that the AI-powered rally in Chinese equities could boost other markets as well.

Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index .MIAPJ0000PUS was firmer by 1.08% while Japan's Nikkei index .N225 was up 0.98%.

Chinese ADRs .HXC rose 6.4% overnight.