Hong Kong stocks rose, setting the market up for a winning month, as investors bet on big fund inflows after China steps up efforts to defend its financial markets from the impact of US tariff measures.

The Hang Seng Index advanced 0.9% at 10.15am local time, while the Tech Index added 1.3%.

In terms of star stocks, XPeng rose 5%; NIO, Baidu, and Li Auto rose 4%; Alibaba rose 3%; Meituan and JD.com rose 2%; Xiaomi rose 1%. While SMIC fell 4%.

Swiss investment bank UBS said China’s plan to inject more long-term capital into its stock market could inject 1.7 trillion yuan (US$236.2 billion) of inflows from insurers, mutual funds and social-security funds.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission unveiled on Sunday additional measures to scale up and promote index-linked investment products. This followed last week’s big move to direct local funds to boost their allocations to shore up the stock market and counter the impact of US policy attacks.

President Trump last week threatened to impose tariffs on Chinese goods starting next month and unveiled a plan to beat China on artificial intelligence.

Elsewhere, China’s PMI manufacturing index fell to 49.1 in January from 50.1 in December, while the services gauge dropped to 50.2 from 52.2 in December, the statistics bureau said on Monday. Goldman Sachs said the decline was likely due to a slowdown in activity ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

The onshore financial markets will close from January 28 to February 4 for the holiday, while markets in Hong Kong will close from midday on January 28 to January 31.