The Hang Seng Index fluctuated today (August 8) and failed to surpass the 17,000 level. Investors continue to focus on the prospect of the Fed's interest rate cut. The Dow and Nasdaq both fell 0.6% and 1.1%, respectively, on the evening of the 7th. At the time of writing, the yield on the US 2-year bond fell to 3.945%, the yield on the US 10-year bond rose to 3.916%, the US dollar index fell to 103, the yen fell 0.3% to 146.21 against the US dollar, the latest futures for Dow fell 36 points or 0.09%, and the latest futures for Nasdaq rose 0.2%. The spot RMB exchange rate fell 84 points to 7.1469 against the US dollar. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.07 points to close at 2,869, the Shenzhen Component Index fell 0.04%, and the total transaction volume of the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock markets exceeded 619.9 billion yuan.
The Hang Seng Index opened low by 104 points, fell 212 points in the early stage, saw 16,665 points, and then turned upward. It once rose 145 points to see 17,023 points, and closed with an increase of 13 points or 0.08%, at 16,891 points. The H-share index rose 8 points or 0.1%, closing at 5,941 points. The Hang Seng Tech Index fell 15 points or 0.5%, closing at 3,366 points. The total daily turnover of the market was 102.837 billion yuan. There was a net outflow of 0.626 billion yuan and 2.605 billion yuan for Southbound trading of Shanghai and Shenzhen through Hong Kong Connect.
China Mobile (00941.HK) announced after the closing of the market that its net profit for the first half of the year rose by 5.3% to 80.2 billion yuan, which was better than expected. The interim dividend increased to HKD 2.6, and the stock price rose 1% throughout the day.
Chinese Mobile prefers Bilibili but faces selling pressure.
Several mainland Internet platforms are cracking down on sports fandoms, and Bilibili-W (09626.HK) and Weibo-SW (09898.HK) fell 5.7% and 4.5%, respectively. As for other technology stocks, Alibaba-SW (09988.HK) rose 0.1% to HKD 76.55, and Tencent (00700.HK) rose 1.3% to HKD 368.2.
In terms of domestic demand stocks, Uni-President China (00220.HK) has lowered its sales growth target, and the stock price fell 9.2% throughout the day. Competitor Kangshifu (00322.HK) also fell 7%. Travel platforms Tongcheng (00780.HK) and Ctrip (09961.HK) fell 5% and 3.5%, respectively. Morgan Stanley released a report stating that Uni-President's performance for the first half of the year was roughly in line with expectations. Due to intensified competition in the beverage division, management has become more conservative about sales growth prospects, with expected growth of 5% to 8%, compared with the January forecast of 8% to 12%. The second half of the year is expected to continue expanding gross margins, while sales of convenience foods will remain stable. The target price for Uni-President by Morgan Stanley is HKD 6.6, with a rating of "in line with the market."
TaiKoo Property Bounced Reversely as the Market Widened Weakened.
The Hong Kong stock market turned weak today, with a ratio of 16:23 for the rise and fall of mainboard stocks (25 to 17 the previous day), 32 stocks in the Hang Seng Index rose, and 45 stocks fell, with a ratio of 39:54 (83 to 15 the previous day). The market recorded a short sale of 16.363 billion yuan today, accounting for 18.851% of the turnover of stocks that can be shorted, which was 86.804 billion yuan (compared to 29.522% the previous day).
Swire Properties (01972.HK) reported a 1% decrease in basic earnings per share in the first half, and increased its interim dividend to 34 cents and carried out a share buyback of up to 1.5 billion yuan. The stock price rose by 11.7% to 14.5 yuan for the whole day. Taikoo A (00019.HK) reported a slight decrease of 0.3% in basic net profit in the first half and increased its interim dividend. The stock price fell by 1.1% to 69.55 yuan.
Swire Properties announced that the board of directors has approved a plan to repurchase the company's ordinary shares through the open market, with a total buyback amount of up to HKD 1.5 billion. The funds for the plan will be allocated from the company's available capital and cash reserves.