The three major indices of Hong Kong stocks collectively fell under pressure, and the decline widened further at the end of the session. At the close, the Hang Seng Index fell 1.36% or 225.48 points to 16392.84 points, with a full-day turnover of HK$115.609 billion.
The Zhitong Finance App learned that the three major indices of Hong Kong stocks collectively fell under pressure, and the decline widened further at the end of the session. At the close, the Hang Seng Index fell 1.36% or 225.48 points to 16392.84 points, with a full-day turnover of HK$115.609 billion; the Hang Seng State-owned Enterprises Index fell 1.67% to 5728.13 points; and the Hang Seng Technology Index fell 2.25% to 3393.43 points.
Tianfeng Securities pointed out that in the Hong Kong stock market, in a context where economic data continues to be verified and the pressure to depreciate the Hong Kong dollar has not been relieved, the recommendation is still to focus on a high dividend strategy. Sectors such as utilities, energy, finance, and telecommunications, which have high dividend rates in the short term, can provide considerable relative returns in this environment even if market volatility increases in the future; in the medium to long term, the technology industry represented by semiconductors and the Internet will still be the main gripper for industrial transformation and is expected to benefit from government support and domestic substitution.
Blue chip stock performance
Shenzhou International (02313) led the blue chip increase. At the close, it rose 10.49% to HK$72.7, with a turnover of HK$1,263 billion, contributing 8.89 points to the Hang Seng Index. According to the Nomura Research Report, Shenzhou International's performance in 2023 was mixed. Among them, the capacity utilization rate was encouraging. The revenue was 7% lower than the agency's market expectations, but net profit was basically in line with expectations. The gross profit margin for the second half of last year was 25.8%, up 3.4 percentage points from the first half of the year, which was better than that forecast. According to management disclosure, the capacity utilization rate bottomed out last year, and full production is expected in the first quarter of this year, which is positive news for the bank.
In terms of other blue-chip stocks, China Resources Vientiane Life (01209) rose 5.93% to HK$25, contributing 1.48 points to the Hang Seng Index; Hanson Pharmaceuticals (03692) rose 4.03% to HK$15.48, contributing 1.14 points to the Hang Seng Index; CITIC (00267) fell 6.42% to HK$7.58, dragging down the Hang Seng Index by 5.97 points; Sunyu Optical Technology (02382) fell 4.81% to HK$39.55, dragging down the Hang Seng Index by 2.24 points.
In terms of popular sectors
On the market, the general decline in weighted technology stocks dragged down the market; China Transport Federation expected a slow recovery in the car market in March, with auto stocks falling ahead; new car builders led the decline; dairy products, lithium battery stocks, semiconductors, domestic housing stocks, and large financial stocks declined one after another. On the other side, gold prices have repeatedly reached new highs. Gold stocks bucked the trend today, and Zhaojin Mining reached a maximum of more than 6%.
1. Gold stocks bucked the trend. At the close, Zhaojin Mining (01818) rose 4.92% to HK$9.81; Lingbao Gold (03330) rose 2.12% to HK$2.41; Zijin Mining (02899) rose 1.99% to HK$15.34; and China Gold International (02099) rose 0.93% to HK$48.95.
Expectations of the Federal Reserve's interest rate cuts are heating up, and the price of gold continues to hit record highs. At present, the international gold price has surpassed 2,200 US dollars per ounce, and the domestic gold price has also repeatedly reached new highs, reaching 500 yuan/gram. The price of gold jewelry is once close to 670 yuan/gram. Industry insiders said that changes in market expectations of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy, “buy buy buy” by central banks around the world, and rising demand for safe haven from domestic consumers are all driving factors in this round of gold price increases. Under the expectation that the Federal Reserve will switch from an interest rate hike cycle to an interest rate cut cycle during the year, precious metals prices will still rise and fall easily in the future.
2. Auto stocks were the first to decline. At the close, Xiaopeng Motor-W (09868) fell 6.28% to HK$32.1; Ideal Automobile-W (02015) fell 3.53% to HK$117.5; and Great Wall Motor (02333) fell 0.23% to HK$8.69.
The Passenger Federation pointed out that March is the peak season for the traditional car market. Various car companies are sprinting to quarterly sales targets, and local governments have introduced stimulus policies one after another, but the new round of price wars has once again caused consumers to wait and see, and waiting for the implementation of the trade-in policy has further increased wait-and-see sentiment, which is not conducive to the full release of terminal demand in the short term. The Passenger Transport Federation predicts that the passenger car retail market in the narrow sense of the word will be around 1.65 million units in March, a slight increase of 3.7% over the previous year. Among them, retail sales of new energy vehicles are expected to be 750,000 units, up 37.1% year on year, 93.2% month on month, and the penetration rate is expected to reach 45.5%. This is mainly due to a further drop in NEV prices after the Spring Festival, which stimulates consumer demand.
3. Domestic housing stocks collectively declined. At the close, Sunac China (01918) fell 4.31% to HK$1.11; Vanke Enterprise (02202) fell 4.12% to HK$5.35; and R&F Real Estate (02777) fell 2.17% to HK$0.9.
According to Bread Finance, the sales data of mainstream listed housing companies for the first 2 months of 2024 has already been disclosed. After excluding some of the listed housing enterprises with incomplete data disclosure, researchers from Xinhua Finance and Bread Finance separately counted the top 30 companies ranked by sales amount, sales area, and average sales price using the major housing enterprises listed on the Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong exchanges as samples. Statistics show that sales of listed real estate companies declined in the previous 2 months. The total sales amount of the top 30 listed real estate companies in January-February was 206.491 billion yuan, down 54.05% from the same period in 2023. The total sales area of the top 30 listed real estate companies in January-February was 16.6467 million square meters, down 55.58% from the same period in 2023.
Furthermore, the Hong Kong stock earnings season has come to an end this week, and high-performing stocks have performed brilliantly. At the close, Hygea Healthcare (06078) rose 15.97% to HK$30.5; China Resources Vientiane Life (01209) rose 5.93% to HK$25; and CNOOC (02883) rose 5.19% to HK$8.71.
Hygea Healthcare's revenue in 2023 was 4,077 billion yuan (same unit), up 27.57% year on year; net profit was 685 million yuan, up 42.14% year on year; adjusted net profit was 713 million yuan, up 17.53% year on year. China Resources Vientiane Life's revenue in 2023 was RMB 14.77 billion, up 22.9% year on year; profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 2.93 billion, up 32.8% year on year. CNOOC Oilfield Services achieved revenue of 44.109 billion yuan in 2023, an increase of 23.7% over the previous year; annual profit attributable to company owners was 3,013 billion yuan, an increase of 27.75% over the previous year. Among them, the fourth quarter of last year achieved revenue of 14.601 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 27.9%, a month-on-month increase of 37.3%, and a record high of revenue in a single quarter; net profit to mother of 740 million yuan, an increase of 154.3% year-on-year, the best level in a single quarter since 2015.
Meanwhile, due to delays in publishing the 2023 results, Zhongyuan Construction Industry (09982) and Jianye New Life (09983) fell sharply by 64.14% and 37.5% respectively. Zhongyuan Construction announced that due to the change of auditors, publication of the 2023 annual results was delayed, and it is not expected that they will be released on or before March 31, 2024 as required by the listing rules. Jianye New Life issued a profit warning. It is expected that it may obtain an unaudited comprehensive net loss of RMB 500 million to RMB 700 million in 2023, and an unaudited comprehensive net profit of RMB 570 million in the same period last year.
Popular volatile stocks
1. Belle Palace (02536) was once again strong. By the close, it had risen 50% to HK$4.5.
Belle Palace was spun off from the Far East and is a comprehensive entertainment group integrating gaming and leisure businesses. It mainly operates in the Czech Republic and Germany. It owns a comprehensive resort and two physical casinos in the Czech Republic, and also operates three hotels in Germany and one in Austria, covering various services such as accommodation, catering, and meetings.
2. The volume of Wuling Motors (00305) was higher. At the close, it rose 24.5% to HK$4.5.
The company will release its annual results today. According to the new energy weekly sales list recently announced by Auto Master, from March 18 to March 24, Wuling ranked third with weekly sales of 81,000 vehicles. In addition, Wuling Yangguang, a new-generation high-space new energy commercial vehicle owned by Wuling Automobile, was officially launched recently at a price of 71,800 yuan to 83,800 yuan.