Hong Kong stocks edged higher on Monday, lifted by gains in technology shares and stabilising China inflation data.

The Hang Seng Index rose 1.3%, while the Hang Seng Tech Index rose 3%.

In terms of star stocks, Knowledge Atlas rose 29%; Kuaishou up 8%; Bilibili up 7%; Meituan rose 6%; Alibaba, Baidu rose 5%; Tencent, Xiaomi, XPeng rose 2%.

China delivered better than expected producer prices and consumer price growth on Friday, signalling a stabilising consumer trend long sought by Beijing, though analysts said the readings needed to be treated with caution.

The trading debut of Chinese AI start-up MiniMax, which surged 43 per cent on Friday, also fuelled investor interest in AI and tech-related stocks. Its shares surged another 31 per cent during Monday morning’s trading hours.

On Friday, Chinese authorities launched a market competition probe into food delivery platforms. Meituan said it would “fully support the move” and “make every effort” to cooperate. Taobao Shangou, Alibaba’s food-delivery platform, welcomed the probe, saying it recognised fair competition as a core principle of a market economy.

The probe was expected to rein in the platforms’ excessive spending and help restore healthier balance sheets, analysts said.

“These companies have been locked in an arms race with each other, spending heavily to build out new businesses,” said Kenny Ng Lai-yin, a strategist at Everbright Securities International. The probe “could curb their cash burn and excessive spending on subsidies, which would be positive for cost control”.

Wang Qi, chief investment officer at UOB Kay Hian’s wealth management division in Hong Kong, said the probe “should help ease the intense competition among Alibaba, Meituan and JD in local delivery services”. Wang added that Meituan shares were up more today on the news “because the company is perceived as a loser in the price wars”.