The Zhitong Finance App learned that the three major indices of Hong Kong stocks opened low and moved higher today. At one point, they all rose more than 1% intraday, and then the increase narrowed. At the close, the Hang Seng Index rose 0.82% or 134.03 points to 16385.87 points, with a full day turnover of HK$95.28 billion; the Hang Seng State-owned Enterprises Index rose 0.94% to 5803.86 points; and the Hang Seng Technology Index rose 0.5% to 3356.82 points.

Ping An Securities said that despite the Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts or delays, the overall undervalued Hong Kong stock market is still expected to take advantage of the turbulence in US stocks to gain incremental capital attention. Cinda International pointed out that the last mile of the US fight against inflation is repeated, and the game between the market and the Federal Reserve over interest rate cuts and downsizing will increase market fluctuations. Hong Kong stocks await the introduction of strong stimulus policies in the Mainland to enhance economic momentum and speed up the return of capital to the Chinese and Hong Kong stock markets. The Hang Seng Index resistance is 17,500 points.

Blue chip stock performance

Shenzhou International (02313) led the blue chip increase. At the close, it rose 5.09% to HK$73.35, with a turnover of HK$406 million, contributing 4.63 points to the Hang Seng Index. According to the Citigroup report, since Adidas's performance in the first quarter of 2024 was better than expected and the 2024 revenue guidance was raised, it was raised from the previous middle single digit to the medium to high single digit, which is expected to have a slight positive impact on Shenzhou. The target price is HK$108 for Shenzhou International's “buy” rating.

In terms of other blue-chip stocks, Haier Smart Home (06690) rose 4.31% to HK$26.6, contributing 4.21 points to the Hang Seng Index; Zhongsheng Holdings (00881) rose 4.2% to HK$13.4, contributing 0.68 points to the Hang Seng Index; Xinyi Glass (00868) fell 4.37% to HK$7.88, dragging down the Hang Seng Index by 1.21 points; CNOOC (00883) fell 2.23% to HK$18.4, dragging down the Hang Seng Index by 10.26 points.

In terms of popular sectors

On the market, large technology stocks had mixed ups and downs. Alibaba turned slightly green, while NetEase, Tencent, etc. all showed gains. The Development and Reform Commission indicated that it will accelerate the implementation of measures such as ultra-long-term special treasury bonds. Major financial stocks are gaining strength today, leading the way in domestic insurance stocks; the trade-in plan catalyzed demand for home appliances, and home appliance stocks performed brilliantly; the copper supply and demand pattern may turn into a shortage, and copper stocks soared in the afternoon; in addition, sporting goods stocks, beer stocks, and semiconductor stocks all rose. On the other side, multiple downsides are putting pressure on oil prices, and the trend of oil stocks is weak; power stocks, cement stocks, etc. have declined ahead.

1. Major financial stocks rose, while domestic insurance stocks led the way. At the close, China Taibao (02601) rose 5.78% to HK$15.74; Ping An of China (02318) rose 4.14% to HK$31.4; CICC (03908) rose 2.99% to HK$8.6; and China Merchants Bank (03968) rose 2.83% to HK$32.65.

In its recent report on the interpretation of the new “National Nine Rules”, Dongwu Securities suggested that the financial sector should hold on to the dual main lines of “high dividends” + “high-quality development of the capital market.” The banking sector suggests focusing on the four major state-owned banks and high-quality commercial banks in Jiangsu and Zhejiang with growth and high dividends. Huijin will continue to support the long-term steady development of the four major banks; the fintech sector is expected to benefit from the recovery of market vitality, and AI financial enterprises with a large financial transaction data base, better application scenario entry, and more mature AI technology application experience will benefit; the brokerage sector will benefit from strict supervision to clear up market chaos, and improve stock investment income expectations.

According to the Morgan Stanley report, most life insurance companies in the mainland showed strong sales performance in their new business in March, and premiums of all life insurance companies increased. According to the total premiums in March, China People's Insurance Group's Life Insurance, Ping An Life Insurance under China Ping An, Pacific Life under China Taibao, and China Life Insurance also benefited from the increase in automobile and non-automobile premiums. The bank indicates that the premium income of mainland life insurance companies all recorded positive growth in March of this year, and it is expected that most insurance companies may achieve double-digit growth in new business value in the first quarter of this year.

2. Airline stocks rose across the board. At the close, Meilan Airport (00357) rose 8.35% to HK$7.53; Air China (00753) rose 5.22% to HK$3.83; China Southern Airlines (01055) rose 3.88% to HK$2.68; and Eastern Airlines (00670) rose 3.26% to HK$1.9.

A number of airlines recently released major operating data for March. The overall passenger occupancy rate of the six airlines in March was 81.4%, down 1.4 percentage points from the same period in 2019. Separately, the passenger occupancy rate for domestic flights was 82.0%, down from February during the Spring Festival travel season, but higher than the domestic passenger occupancy rate of 81.3% in January, down only 2.4 percentage points from the same period in 2019. Domestic demand still showed some resilience in demand during the off-season; the international passenger occupancy rate was 80.1%, up 0.7 percentage points from the same period in 2019, the first increase since the pandemic.

Huatai Securities pointed out that in the future, off-season business travel still needs to be tracked, but with reference to Spring Festival travel data, demand for private travel such as travel and family visits is still strong. The trip is optimistic about the performance of civil aviation during the peak season, and is expected to once again experience a peak in demand during the “May 1st” holiday. In the medium to long term, the bank believes that the improvement in civil aviation supply and demand and the logic of full economy class fare reform remain unchanged. The resumption of international routes is expected to increase the utilization rate of airline aircraft and optimize the domestic route supply and demand structure. It is recommended to focus on the aviation sector, where prosperity is expected to improve.

3. Home appliance stocks performed brilliantly. At the close, Hisense Home Appliances (00921) rose 4.88% to HK$30.1; Haier Smart Home (06690) rose 4.31% to HK$26.6; and TCL Electronics (01070) rose 3.02% to HK$5.11.

The Ministry of Commerce and 14 other departments previously jointly issued the “Action Plan to Promote the Trade-In of Consumer Goods”. Cinda Securities believes that from an institutional perspective, the country is paying more attention to guiding the opening up of the entire industrial chain chain of second-hand transactions, scrapping, recycling and dismantling of household appliances. In the long run, it is beneficial to help consumers better develop a sense of home appliance renewal and promote long-term growth in demand for home appliance renewal. Guoxin Securities, on the other hand, pointed out that domestic sales in Q1 picked up with the recovery in consumption and the release of demand for trade-in and air conditioner restocking a few years ago; export sales experienced a strong rebound from a low base after the elimination of overseas inventories ended, and home appliance companies' Q1 business performance is expected to improve steadily.

4. Copper stocks surged in the afternoon. At the close, Minmetals Resources (01208) rose 5.36% to HK$3.93; China Nonferrous Mining (01258) rose 4.59% to HK$6.83; and Jiangxi Copper (00358) rose 3.69% to HK$16.3.

The main contract for Shanghai Copper rose more than 2% in the intraday period, approaching 78,500 yuan/ton; the main contract for international copper reached 70,000 yuan/ton, the first time since October 2021, with an intraday increase of nearly 2.5%. Goldman Sachs strategist Nicholas Snowdon said that as an unprecedented shortage of ores affects the refined copper market, the bank expects copper prices to soar to around $12,000 per ton in the first quarter of next year. Nicholas Snowdon anticipates a “very serious” gap in the supply of refined copper. CITIC Securities believes that the copper supply and demand pattern may turn into a shortage as the mining side continues to be tight and production cuts on the smelting side are expected to be implemented, and the time for the active inventory replenishment cycle at home and abroad is approaching. In terms of financial attributes, copper's trading logic transitioned from previous interest rate cut expectations to inflation expectations, providing support for copper prices in terms of demand and cost.

Popular volatile stocks

1. China's Bolton (03318) surged in volume. By the close, it had risen 56.8% to HK$2.65.

China's Bolton announced that the Shenzhen Nanshan District Government plans to expropriate a plot of land owned by the subsidiary Shenzhen Bolton to build a high-speed railway hub and related projects. The relevant departments have provided compensation plans to Shenzhen Bolton.

2. Jianyi Group (00638) resumed trading and rose 24.07% to HK$0.67 by the close.

Jianyi Group received a proposal from Resplendent Global, owned by Chairman and CEO Cheng Chujie and his family, to privatize the company through an agreed arrangement. The offer cancellation price of HK$0.72 per share was HK$0.72, a premium of about 33.3% over the closing price of $0.54 before the suspension of trading.

3. Esprit Global (00330) rose significantly. At the close, it rose 15.61% to HK$0.237.

The company will enter into a non-binding memorandum of understanding with interested investors regarding potential investments and cooperation, and will establish a special purpose company to manage and operate the Group's European business; interested investors will assist in restructuring the Group's European business; and interested investors plan to obtain financial benefits from the company. The interested investor is an international private equity group.

4. China Building Materials (03323) issued a profit warning. At the close, it fell 8.28% to HK$2.77.

China Building Materials announced that the Group expects the loss due to unaudited equity holders for the three months ending March 31, 2024 to be approximately RMB 1.3 billion, and the net loss for the same period last year will be approximately RMB 526 million, an increase of 147% over the previous year. Mainly due to the drop in sales prices of cement, concrete and other products.