China, Hong Kong stocks shrug off new US tariff threat; tech, auto lead gains

By Jiaxing Li

HONG KONG, March 27 (Reuters) - China and Hong Kong stocks rose on Thursday with tech and auto shares leading gains, shrugging off threats of new car tariffs from U.S. while JPMorgan upgraded its market outlook on China.

At the midday break, China's blue-chip CSI300 index .CSI300 gained 0.4% and the Shanghai Composite index .SSEC added 0.3%, both reversing losses at the opening hours.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index .HSI was up 1.1% to recover from a three-week low. The Hang Seng Tech Index .HSTECH added 1.3%.

The financial sector sub-index .CSI300FS and consumer staples sector .CSI000912 both strengthened 0.7%, and the chip sector .CSI931865 rallied 1.8%, leading onshore markets higher.

China's automobiles sub-index .CSI931008 also reversed losses to climb up 1.3%. U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled a 25% tariff on imported cars starting next week, but also said he may give China a reduction in tariffs to get a TikTok deal done.

"His confusing and contradicting statements make market less interested," said George Au, Phillip Securities' deputy sales director.

Also aiding sentiments, JPMorgan joined Wall Street peers to turn more bullish on China, raising its end-4Q25 target for the MSCI China index's to 95. This is 7% higher than its previous call.

The recent market volatility could last through US tariff policy moves in early April, strategists including Wendy Liu said in a note.