On Friday (the 18th), the Hang Seng Index closed at 20,804, up 725 points or 3.6%; the total market turnover was 259 billion yuan. The China Enterprise Index rose by 292 points or 4.1% to 7471. The Technology Index rose by 251 points or 5.8% to 4600. Mainland China performed well, with the SSE Composite Index closing up 92 points or 2.9% at 3261; the Shenzhen Component Index rose by 4.7%; the CHINEXT Price Index surged by 8%. Mainland China announced a third-quarter GDP growth of 4.6% year-on-year at 10 am, which exceeded market expectations, along with the announcement by PBOC Governor Pan Gongsheng that the LPR will be reduced next week and reserve requirements may be further reduced by the end of the year. After a four-day rise of 1172 points, Hong Kong stocks surged over 800 points on Friday but encountered resistance near the 21,000 level.

The Dow Jones closed at 43,275 on Friday (the 18th), up 36 points or 0.09%; the S&P 500 rose by 0.4% to 5864 points; the Nasdaq increased by 0.63% to 18,489 points; the FTSE China A50 Index, reflecting the performance of Chinese concept stocks, surged by 3.03%. Among heavyweight stocks, reports indicated strong iPhone 16 sales in China, leading to a 1.2% increase in Apple's stock price, Meta fluctuated with a 0.1% increase, Nvidia rebounded by 0.8%, Intel rose by 1.5%, ranking as the best-performing stocks in the Dow Jones. Netflix's last quarter earnings and subscriber numbers exceeded expectations, with brokerage Needham raising the target price from $700 to $800, driving a 11.1% stock price increase to a record high of $763.89, briefly reaching $766.28 during trading. Asian stocks were mixed this morning (the 21st), with the Nikkei 225 Index currently at 38,871 points, down 109 points or 0.28%. The KOSPI Index is at 2608 points, up 14 points or 0.55%. Hong Kong stocks have been fluctuating with continued declining turnover.

Market Focus: China Life Insurance (02628)

Data from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission shows that the service quality in the mainland insurance industry continues to strengthen, with a 40% year-on-year increase in the number of new insurance policies issued by insurance companies in the first half of this year to 47.2 billion. The recent rebound in equity markets and rising long-term interest rates have been beneficial for the asset side of insurance companies. China life Insurance (2628) announced a profit surprise and expects the net income attributable to shareholders of the parent company for the first three quarters of 2024 to be approximately 101.135 billion yuan to 108.767 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of around 165% to 185%. With policies exceeding expectations at the central level, it is expected to provide new momentum for insurance companies and believe that increasing leverage will enhance investment flexibility. At the same time, under declining interest rates, it is believed to favor a better recovery for the insurance industry.

Target price is $20, stop loss price is $13.5.

(The author is a licensed person of the China Securities Regulatory Commission and does not hold any of the above stocks.)

Author: Dr. Tang Shengxing, Chairman of the Hong Kong Stock Analysts Association.