Hong Kong stocks rose, bucking losses in regional markets, on speculation global funds will switch from expensive US tech companies after Chinese start-up DeepSeek sparked a sell-off on Wall Street with its popular low-cost artificial intelligence (AI) model.

The Hong Kong stock market closed higher. The Hang Seng Index (HSI) rose by 0.14%, the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI) was down 0.01%, the Hang Seng Tech Index (HSTECH) climbed by 0.77%.

Hong Kong’s stock market stops trading from midday for the Lunar New Year and reopen on January 31. Mainland stock exchanges, whose key benchmark CSI 300 rose 3 per cent in January, are closed from Tuesday and will resume trading on February 5.

In terms of sectors, the Hong Kong real estate stocks saw a significant rise, with a sector increase of 2.29%. Notable performers included China Vanke, which surged by 8.66%. The Hong Kong popular tech stocks also performed well, with a sector increase of 1.30%. Key stocks such as Tencent rose by 1%, and Alibaba-W increased by 1.26%. However, the Hong Kong semiconductor sector experienced a decline.

JD-SW received a preliminary non-binding acquisition proposal from Dada Group, proposing to acquire all issued ordinary shares at a cash price of $2.0 per ADS, representing a premium of approximately 42%. Following the announcement, Dada Group's stock price surged by over 25%.

SMIC continued its downward trend, with its stock price dropping by 0.39%. The decline was exacerbated by the release of a low-cost AI model by China's DeepSeek, which raised concerns about the demand for AI chips and negatively impacted the performance outlook for chip suppliers and tech companies.

China Vanke saw an increase of 1.77% after its chairman Yu Liang applied to resign, with Xin Jie from Shenzhen Metro Group taking over. The company also announced an expected net loss of approximately 45 billion yuan for the fiscal year 2024.

UBTECH Robotics received a notification from the China Securities Regulatory Commission regarding the implementation of full circulation of H shares. A total of 42.17 million domestic shares have completed the filing, and the company plans to apply for approval for these H shares to be listed and traded on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.