The Zhitong Finance App learned that after the “six consecutive gains” of Hong Kong stocks, the upward trend of Hong Kong stocks has slowed down. The three major stock indexes retreated after rushing higher in early trading. Only the Hang Seng Index successfully turned red. At the close, the Hang Seng Index rose 0.09% or 16.12 points to 17763.03 points, with a full-day turnover of HK$13.86 billion; the Hang Seng State-owned Enterprises Index fell 0.14% to 6273.75 points; and the Hang Seng Technology Index fell 0.34% to 3700.67 points. Looking at the whole month, the general market closed higher. The Hang Seng Index rose 7.39%; the National Index rose 7.97%; and the Hengke Index rose 6.42%.

Guoyuan International pointed out that based on judging the market environment, the bank believes that due to a further rebound in Hong Kong stocks, more economic fundamentals are needed to support it, and that until the overall market environment changes for the better, the investment tone should focus on seeking structural opportunities. In terms of section configuration, it is recommended to have both offense and defense. Currently, the Hang Seng Index is hitting the pressure line of the 250-day EMA, and technical indicators show that the current stock index is close to overbought. There is a possibility that the Hang Seng Index will fluctuate without more external support in the short to medium term.

Blue chip stock performance

Haier Smart Home (06690) led the blue chip increase. At the close, it rose 7.93% to HK$29.25, with a turnover of HK$641 million, contributing 8.16 points to the Hang Seng Index. Haier Smart Home achieved revenue of 68.978 billion yuan in the first quarter, an increase of 6% over the previous year; net profit attributable to shareholders was 4.773 billion yuan, an increase of 20.2% over the previous year. In addition, the company also promoted employee stock ownership plans, and assessed profit growth and return on assets as assessment goals, reflecting the company's expectations and confidence in long-term steady development.

In terms of other blue-chip stocks, Dongfang Overseas International (00316) rose 5.15% to HK$114.3, contributing 1.19 points; Chuangke Industrial (00669) rose 3.8% to HK$109.4, contributing 9.77 points to the Hang Seng Index; China Biopharmaceuticals (01177) fell 3.91% to HK$2.7, dragging down 1.94 points; and Zhongsheng Holdings (00881) fell 3.75% to HK$14.38, dragging down the Hang Seng Index by 0.73 points.

In terms of popular sectors

On the market, most of the large technology stocks declined, and Baidu bucked the trend and rose more than 1%; international oil prices fluctuated, and oil stocks picked up steadily; oil stocks picked up today; several thermal power companies performed well in the first quarter, and power stocks rose collectively; and home appliance stocks, coal stocks, and shipping stocks were active. On the other side, domestic housing stocks, which surged yesterday, have generally declined today, and heavy infrastructure stocks, catering stocks, Chinese brokerage stocks, and gaming stocks are generally under pressure.

1. Shipping stocks generally rose. At the close, COSCO Marine Holdings (01919) rose 6.61% to HK$10.16; Orient Overseas International (00316) rose 5.15% to HK$114.3; and COSCO Marine (01138) rose 1.32% to HK$9.21.

On April 29, EC2404, the first contract of the shipping index (European line) futures, successfully completed delivery. The settlement price was 2152.8 points, the delivery volume was 1,640 lots, and the delivery amount was 177 million yuan. At this point, the shipping index (European line) futures have completed the complete process of listing, trading, settlement, and delivery. Furthermore, the liner company's early May price increase letter has now been largely fulfilled. CICC pointed out that freight rates have continued to rise recently due to continued detours in the Red Sea, increased demand for US routes, shipping companies' capacity control, and pre-May Day shipments.

2. Oil stocks picked up today. At the close, CNOOC (00883) rose 2.73% to HK$20.3; CNPC (00857) rose 1.1% to HK$7.38; and Sinopec (00386) rose 1.07% to HK$4.72.

Guoxin Securities pointed out that international oil prices fluctuated at high levels, and the performance of three barrels of oil grew steadily. GF Securities pointed out that since the second quarter, oil prices have remained high, driven by factors such as attacks on Russian refineries and the conflict between Iraq and Israel. According to Wind, since the second quarter of '24, the price of Brent oil has been 89 US dollars/barrel, an increase of 8.94% over the previous month. In the short term, OPEC+ continued to cut production in the second quarter, and the peak summer demand season is approaching. The IMF expects Saudi Arabia to balance oil prices at 96 US dollars/barrel, which is supported by oil prices.

3. Electricity stocks rose collectively. At the close, Huadian International (01071) rose 3.63% to HK$4.28; Datang Power (00991) rose 3.33% to HK$1.55; and Huaneng International (00902) rose 3.31% to HK$4.99.

Benefiting from power generation exceeding expectations and falling coal prices, many thermal power companies performed well in the first quarter. In the first quarter, Huaneng International achieved net profit of 4.596 billion yuan, up 104.25% year on year; Huadian International achieved net profit of 1,862 billion yuan, up 64.21% year on year; and Datang Power achieved net profit of about 1,331 billion yuan, an increase of about 8.72 times year on year. Dongwu Securities pointed out that there is a global electricity shortage, a rapid drop in coal prices entering the off-season, and an improvement in expected dividend rates in the thermal power sector, focusing on thermal power investment opportunities at the current time.

4. Chinese brokerage stocks are generally under pressure. At the close, Huatai Securities (06886) fell 5.3% to HK$9.3; CITIC Construction Investment Securities (06066) fell 4.91% to HK$6; and China Merchants Securities (06099) fell 1.66% to HK$6.53.

The disclosure of the quarterly reports of all 50 listed brokerage stocks has been completed. Among them, the growth rate of 43 companies was negative, and brokerage firms accounted for 86% of the year-on-year decline. According to some analysts, the decline in brokers' net profit in the first quarter was, on the one hand, affected by the sluggish market environment, and brokerage business, etc. were affected to a certain extent. On the other hand, it is related to the increased differentiation in the development of the brokerage industry. In particular, IPOs have slowed since this year, and brokers' sponsorship business revenue has also been affected. And as supervision is strengthened, accountability will be further strengthened.

A number of companies announced first-quarter results. Bank of Qingdao (03866)'s net profit for the first quarter was about 1,081 billion yuan, up 18.74% year on year, closing up 5.12%; the net profit of Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway Co., Ltd. in the first quarter increased by nearly 35% year on year, up 4.93%; HSBC Holdings (00005) paid special interest and increased repurchases, up more than 2%. On the other hand, the impact of the Zhaoyan New Pharmaceutical (06127) experimental monkey impairment widened further. The company switched from profit to loss in the first quarter, closing down nearly 16%.

Popular volatile stocks

1. L'Occitane (00973) was higher throughout the day. At the close, it was up 9.49% to HK$32.3.

L'Occitane announced that the controlling shareholder, L'Occitane Groupe S.A., proposed to buy shares of L'Occitane not yet held at HK$34 per share, at a 15.25% premium compared to the closing report before the suspension of trading, and a transaction valuation of 6 billion euros. Blackstone's Tactical Opportunities Fund and Goldman Sachs Group's asset management department will fund the acquisition deal with approximately 1.6 billion euros.

2. Vanke Enterprise (02202)'s performance declined after the closing. At the close, it fell 6.46% to HK$4.63.

Vanke Enterprise achieved operating income of 61,594 billion yuan (RMB, same below) in the first quarter, a year-on-year decrease of 10.05%; net loss attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 362 million yuan, and net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies for the same period last year was 1,446 billion yuan, which changed from profit to loss year-on-year. This is the first time since Vanke went public in 1991 that it experienced a loss in performance.