According to the Futu Securities app, Fed Chairman Powell sends a strong signal of interest rate cuts, and Hong Kong stocks fluctuate and rise today, with all three major indexes rising more than 1% at one point. At the close, the Hang Seng Index rose 1.06% or 186.63 points to 17,798.73, with a total daily turnover of 83.586 billion Hong Kong dollars; the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 0.95% to 6,278.63 points; the Hang Seng Tech Index rose 0.98% to 3,502.96 points.

Guotai Junan International pointed out that the timing of the Fed's interest rate cut in September is ripe, and the improvement in liquidity on the denominator side is a positive factor for the Hong Kong stock market, with interest rate-sensitive industries having the greatest elasticity. On the domestic front, the negative expectations on the numerator side have been fully priced in, and after a sufficient retracement, the cost-effectiveness of the Hong Kong stock market's allocation is highlighted. Since 2024, the earnings expectations for the Hang Seng Tech Index have continued to rise, with continued inflow of southbound funds and the push from the denominator side, making it bullish for growth.

Blue chip performance

Wuxi Biologics (02269) leads the blue chips, closing up 6.82% at HKD 10.96, with a turnover of 0.704 billion Hong Kong dollars, contributing 4.33 points to the Hang Seng Index. Fed Chairman Powell sent a strong signal of interest rate cuts last Friday, and institutions believe that under the expectation of rate cuts, the global CXO leading new order signings are expected to continue to improve. It is reported that as of the end of June 2024, the total value of unfulfilled orders for Wuxi Biologics has increased to 20.11 billion US dollars, with unfulfilled orders in the next three years estimated at about 3.64 billion US dollars.

For other blue chip stocks, Wharf REIC (01997) rose 6.41% to HKD 22.4, contributing 3.61 points to the Hang Seng Index; Nongfu Spring (09633) rose 6.13% to HKD 30.3, contributing 5.72 points to the Hang Seng Index; Zhongsheng Holdings (00881) fell 2.59% to HKD 8.66, dragging down the Hang Seng Index by 0.32 points; Sinopharm (01099) fell 2.48% to HKD 18.1, dragging down the Hang Seng Index by 1 point.

Hot sectors

On the market, large technology stocks mostly rose, with bilibili leading the Hengke index component stocks with a 7% increase, while Tencent, Baidu, and Meituan all rose more than 1%. Expectations for rate cuts are driving continuous improvement in global CXO leading new orders, with CRO concept stocks leading the way. The warming of rate cut expectations is driving renewed trading in new stocks, with most Hong Kong property stocks on the rise. Non-ferrous metal stocks, mainland real estate stocks, sporting goods stocks, insurance stocks, wind power stocks, and petroleum stocks are all rising. On the other hand, highway and railway stocks, as well as high-speed rail infrastructure stocks, all fell throughout the day, with Shenzhen Expressway Corporation falling by over 12% at one point.

1. Biomedical stocks performed well, with CRO leading the way. As of the closing, WuXi Bio (02269) rose by 6.82% to HK$10.96; Wuxi Apptec (02359) rose by 5.41% to HK$33.1; WuXi Biologics (02268) rose by 4.74% to HK$19.88; Remegen (09995) rose by 3.86% to HK$12.38.

Mingsheng Securities pointed out that the September WCLC (World Lung Cancer Conference) catalyzed the continued recovery of third-quarter performance. They continue to focus on investment opportunities in innovative drugs, the innovative industry chain, orthopedics, scientific instruments, active pharmaceutical ingredients, medical devices, and overseas pharmaceuticals. On the CXO front, Federal Reserve Chairman Powell sent a strong signal for a rate cut at the Global Central Bank Annual Meeting, leaving room for greater policy adjustments. In the context of innovative drugs, the gradual confirmation of first payment for domestic innovative drugs going overseas is leading to better-than-expected performance in the first half of the year for companies like Kelun Botai.

2. Most Hong Kong property stocks performed well. As of the closing, Wharf REIC (01997) rose by 6.41% to HK$22.4; Swireproperties (01972) rose by 4.32% to HK$14.96; Link Real Estate Investment Trust (00823) rose by 3.99% to HK$36.45; New World Dev (00017) rose by 3.84% to HK$7.58.

Federal Reserve Chairman Powell explicitly moved to a more dovish stance at the Jackson Hole Global Central Bank Annual Meeting, and a rate cut in September has become a certainty. Powell stated that the timing of the policy adjustment has arrived. The policy direction is clear, and the timing and pace of the rate cut will depend on subsequent data, changes in the outlook, and risk balance. The latest data from the Central Plains Real Estate shows that the warming of rate cuts has led to renewed trading in new property markets. There were about 80 first-hand transactions recorded over the past weekend, which increased by three times compared to the previous week and set four new weekend highs.

3. Non-ferrous metal stocks rose across the board. As of the close, Aluminum Corporation of China (02600) rose by 4.23% to HK$4.93; Tianqi Lithium Corporation (09696) rose by 4.02% to HK$20.2; Jiangxi Copper (00358) rose by 3.91% to HK$13.82; CMOC Group Limited (03993) rose by 3.6% to HK$6.62.

Federal Reserve Chairman hinted at an upcoming rate cut, and the prospect of a rate cut in September has heated up once again. The weak oscillation of the US dollar index has resonated upward for non-ferrous metal stocks. Last week, precious metals on the COMEX rose by 0.10%, while silver rose by 4.14%, and industrial metals on the LME - aluminum, copper, zinc, lead, nickel, and tin - changed by 6.99%, 1.31%, 5.34%, 3.28%, 1.58%, and 3.11% respectively. Pacific Securities pointed out that with support from soft landing data and strengthened expectations, they are bullish on the continued recovery of basic metal prices and firmly optimistic about the upward trend in gold prices.

4. Mainland real estate stocks generally rose. As of the close, Cifi Hold Gp (00884) rose by 5.81% to HK$0.255; Shimao Group (00813) rose by 5% to HK$0.63; Seazen (01030) rose by 4.86% to HK$1.51; China Vanke (02202) rose by 3.96% to HK$3.94.

On August 23, Dong Jianguo, Deputy Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, stated at a press conference that the establishment of three systems, namely, housing inspection, housing pension, and housing insurance, is being studied to build a long-term mechanism for housing safety management throughout the entire life cycle. Currently, 22 cities including Shanghai are conducting pilot projects. Among them, the personal accounts for housing pension have been established through the payment of residential special maintenance funds, and the focus of the pilot is for the government to establish public accounts.

According to relevant statistics, as of now, more than 80 cities have announced their support for state-owned platform enterprises to acquire commodity housing for guarantee housing, resettlement housing, talent housing, and transitional housing. Recently, the successful implementation of acquisition and storage has taken place in Fuzhou and Wuhan, indicating positive signals. Guotai Junan Securities believes that the node of acquiring and storing while reducing inventory is getting closer. The acquisition and storage in Fuzhou and Wuhan has formed a physical quantity with a certain benchmark effect and reference significance. If this model can be proven effective, it is expected to be replicated and promoted in more cities, accelerating the overall stabilization process of first-tier and second-tier cities.

In addition, the mid-year report market remains active, with related stocks being active. As of the close, Ascentage Pharma-B (06855) rose 12.89%, closing at HKD 32.4; Goldwind Science & Technology (02208) rose 8.52%, closing at HKD 4.46; Bilibili-W (09626) rose 7%, closing at HKD 114.6; Kingboard Hldg (00148) rose 4.76%, closing at HKD 16.3. On the downside, FiTernity (06610) fell 19.54%, closing at HKD 0.35; Shenzhen Expressway (00548) fell 11.41%, closing at HKD 6.91; Times Electric (03898) fell 6.08%, closing at HKD 29.35; EB Environment (00257) fell 4.09%, closing at HKD 3.52.

Popular fluctuating stocks

1. XPeng Inc-W (09868) rose significantly, and as of the close, it rose 7%, closing at HKD 29.05.

XPeng Inc announced that He Xiaopeng, co-founder, executive director, chairman, CEO, and controlling shareholder, has purchased a total of 1 million Class A ordinary shares of the company on the open market from August 21 to August 23, with an average price of HKD 27.13 per share. He also purchased a total of 1.4199 million American depositary shares of the company through Galaxy Dynasty, a wholly-owned subsidiary, with an average price of USD 7.02 per ADS.

2. ND Paper (02689) announced positive earnings, and as of the close, it rose 6.97%, closing at HKD 3.07.

ND Paper announced positive earnings and expects a net profit for the year ending June to be between approximately RMB 700 million to RMB 800 million, compared to a loss attributable to equity holders of the company of approximately RMB 2.383 billion in the previous year. The company pointed out that the increase in net profit is mainly due to an increase in the group's sales volume and gross margin for the current year.

East Buy (01797) showed strong performance after the results announcement, closing up 6.25% at HKD 11.56.

East Buy disclosed its financial results for the fiscal year ending in May, with total revenue of 7.073 billion RMB, a 56.8% year-on-year increase; net profit of 1.72 billion RMB, a 77% year-on-year growth. In the fiscal year 2024, the GMV increased by 43% to 14.3 billion RMB. The majority of GMV came from Douyin, with 8.4% from the application.

Nongfu Spring (09633) saw gains throughout the day, closing up 6.13% at HKD 30.3.

Nongfu Spring will announce its mid-year financial performance for 2024 on August 27th. Citigroup research report indicates an expected high single-digit growth in Nongfu Spring's net income for the first half of this year, significantly outperforming market expectations; it is also expected that tea sales will achieve a strong year-on-year growth of about 50% in the first half, with fruit juice sales expected to realize a high double-digit year-on-year growth.