China shares edge up, Hong Kong also firmer after good data lifts Wall Street

China shares edged higher at midday Friday, helped by blue-chips, and might produce a sixth straight weekly gain, which would be the longest such streak since March 2012.

Hong Kong shares also rose, tracking gains in most other Asian markets after upbeat U.S. economic data sparked another record close on Wall Street.

The Hang Seng Index added 0.3 percent at 25,073.76 points. The China Enterprises Index of the top Chinese listings in Hong Kong climbed 0.6 percent. For the week, they were up 0.5 percent and down 0.9 percent, respectively.

The CSI300 of the leading Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listings was up 0.3 percent on Friday, while the Shanghai Composite Index edged 0.2 percent higher at 2,235.80 points. Both swung between negative and positive territory in the morning.

On the week, they were up 0.1 and 0.4 percent, respectively. If the gains hold, this would be the sixth straight winning week for both indexes.

On mainland markets, energy and banks were generally higher.

PetroChina was the top index boost in Shanghai, up 0.5 percent after Thursday's drop of 0.9 percent.

"The market has been in a consolidating trend for the past few weeks and the consolidations were relatively strong, so the indexes are only slowly moving up," said Zhang Qi, a Shanghai-based analyst with Haitong Securities.

"Volumes remained robust with money mostly in small-caps like media stocks," he added.

Media companies maintained the momentum begun on Monday by President Xi Jinping's comment and a policy announcement supporting the industry. Shanghai Xinhua Media surged the maximum daily limit of 10 percent.

People.cn spiked another 4.9 percent, taking its gain this week to 36 percent. The website operator of Chinese government's official newspaper said late on Thursday it planned to acquire 35 percent stake in a Shanghai-based software firm for 182.7 million yuan ($29.66 million).

Travel companies also outperformed as China aims to double domestic spending on tourism by 2020 by offering financial and other support to the sector.

Beijing Jingxi Tourism Development jumped by the 10 percent limit and Zhang Jia Jie Tourism Group climbed 5.4 percent.

With investors turning to growth stocks from cyclical counters due to deepening concerns about the economy, the ChiNext Composite Index - comprising startups in mainly nascent industries listed in Shenzhen - rose 0.7 percent to a record high.

In Hong Kong, shares of Li & Fung fell 4.4 percent to a six-week low after the global sourcing group posted weaker-than-expected core operating profit for the first half.

(1 US dollar = 6.1589 Chinese yuan)