China stocks rise as Unicom surges limit up for 2nd day, Hong Kong also firms

China shares rose on Tuesday thanks to strong support from China Unicom's Shanghai-listed unit and financial firms, but consumer and technology companies lost ground as investors took profits on recent gains.

The CSI300 index rose 0.4 percent to 3,755.31 points by the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.2 percent to 3,291.71.

China CSI300 stock index futures for September rose 0.3 percent, to 3,731.6, 23.71 points below the current value of the underlying index.

However, analysts said profit-taking may continue to hold the indexes back in the near term.

"From a sector perspective, mainland investors have recently been unloading shares that had relatively larger gains in July ... this indicates that the market is overall still in a profit-taking mood," China International Capital Corporation analysts said in a research note.

Shanghai-listed China United Network Communications Ltd surged the daily limit of 10 percent for a second consecutive day.

The gains follow a statement from the China Securities Regulatory Commission on Sunday that it would treat China Unicom's $11.7 billion ownership reform plan "as an exceptional case", granting it approval.

Chinese media had previously speculated that the plan would violate rules on private placements.

The financials sub-index gained 0.9 percent, led by Ping An Insurance Group Co of China, which rose 2.7 percent. Last week, Ping An reported its biggest half-yearly profit in at least a decade.

But distilleries pulled the consumer staples sub-index down 0.5 percent as investors turned to profit-taking after recent record highs.

Luzhou Laojiao Co Ltd dropped 2.6 percent, Wuliangye Yibin Co Ltd lost 2.1 percent and Kweichow Moutai Co Ltd fell 0.7 percent.

In Hong Kong, The Hang Seng index added 1 percent to 27,437.76 points, and the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index gained 1.8 percent to 10,940.47.

China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd was the top gainer among Hang Seng constituents.

Its shares rose 5.1 percent after it said it would raise its full-year sales target by 10 percent and work to boost rental income. It reported a 26-percent rise in first-half profit on Monday.

Hong Kong-listed shares of Ping An Insurance followed their A-share equivalents higher, rising 3.2 percent.

The index measuring price differences between dual-listed companies in Shanghai and Hong Kong stood at 128.61.

A value above 100 indicates Shanghai shares are pricing at a premium to shares in the same company trading in Hong Kong, and vice versa. ($1 = 7.8243 Hong Kong dollars)

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)