Hong Kong stocks continue to rise on expectations for improvement in China-U.S. trade tensions as U.S. President Donald Trump delays the ban on TikTok for 75 days and holds off imposing the tariffs on Chinese exports.

U.S. president however still asked in return for Beijing's approval for a deal regarding the short-video application.

The Hang Seng Index rose 0.91%, or 180.74 points, to close at 20,106.55 on Tuesday. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 1.18%, or 85.17 points, to end at 7,320.88.

The sentiment seemed to have improved after the current delay in additional tariffs on Chinese exports following encouraging reports of the call between the two leaders and in part due to the positive China economic data last week.

Hong Kong's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the fourth quarter of 2024 stood at 3.1%, unchanged from the September-November 2024 period, according to the data released by the Census and Statistics Department on Monday.

Hong Kong welcomed 539 mainland and foreign firms into the city in 2024, up 41% compared with 382 in 2023, according to data from investment promotion agency InvestHK released Monday.

Hong Kong's bankruptcy petitions rose 17% to 9,190 cases in 2024 from 7,860 a year earlier, according to data from the city's Official Receiver's Office. The number of bankruptcy orders from the courts reached 8,553, up 16% from 7,860 in 2023, the office said.

In corporate news, HK Asia's (HKG:1723) chairman Siu Muk Lung sold 281,070,000, or 70.26%, shares in the company to four buyers for nearly HK$126.5 million, ballooning the company's shares over 121% on Tuesday's close.

A winding-up petition hearing against Country Garden (HKG:2007), filed by Ever Credit over the alleged non-payment of a HK$1.6 billion term loan in February 2024, has been adjourned to May 26 by the Hong Kong High Court. The shares of the company closed nearly 18% higher on Tuesday.

Newborn Town's (HKG:9911) revenue from the group's social networking business is expected to be between 4.52 billion yuan and 4.72 billion yuan for 2024, 54.3% to 61.1% higher than 2023's revenue, raising the company's shares to close nearly 23% higher on Tuesday.