Hong Kong stocks closed up on Wednesday following upbeat US jobs data and hopes of a de-escalation in the US-China trade war.

The Hang Seng Index (HSI) rose 0.6%, while the Hang Seng Tech Index (HSTECH) up 0.6%.

In terms of star stocks, Pop Mart, Mixue rose 5%; Laopu Gold, Meituan rose 3%; XPeng, Nio rose 2%; BYD, Tencent rose 1.4%; Alibaba rose 0.6%.

BYD and other leading Chinese electric-vehicle (EV) makers advanced after some of their car models were picked for a government programme to promote sales of green-energy cars in rural areas.

Overnight gains on Wall Street pushed US benchmarks to within striking distance of their record highs reached earlier this year after a government report pointed to the continuing resilience of the labour market and new job openings exceeded economists’ projections.

Investors were also keeping an eye on whether Chinese President Xi Jinping would talk to his US counterpart Donald Trump to clinch a long-term trade deal between the world’s two largest economies. While the White House said the conversation would take place this week, Beijing had yet to confirm it.