China stocks rebound on consumer, healthcare sector; Hong Kong eases

China stocks rebounded on Wednesday, recovering some of the heavy losses suffered in recent sessions, as buyers snapped up consumer and healthcare stocks.

But Hong Kong shares fell as investors waited for more clues on whether a recent pick-up in China's economy was just a seasonal blip or something more sustainable.

The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.9% to 3,097.08 points at the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.6% to 2,850.05 points. But the indexes are still down more than 1% so far this week.

After a front page article in the official People's Daily judged that China's economic trend would be "L-shaped", barring the possibility of a strong rebound, investors feel further gains in the stock market will be limited.

"You don't expect a bull market in an L-shaped economy," said David Dai, Shanghai-based investor director at Nanhai Fund Management Co.

Trading remained thin as many investors stood on the sidelines, with some media attributing the phenomenon to the government's excessive market interference.

China's "National Team" of state-backed investors should refrain from frequent trading, as their recent "buy low, sell high" strategy distorts stock market behaviour and discourages new investors, the state-run Economic Information Daily reported on Wednesday.

All main stocks rose in China, with the consumer and healthcare sectors leading the charge, both jumping 3.6%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index dropped 0.6% to 20,115.03 points, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Index lost 0.4% to 8,452.63.