Jinwu Financial News | The Hang Seng Index closed at 19,553 points on Friday (17th), up 177 points, or 0.91%, and traded 179.3 billion yuan throughout the day. The national index rose 0.92% to 6934; the technical index rose 0.99% to 4112. Foreign Exchange Control (00005) is rumored to have further reduced its holdings by Ping Bao (02318). Foreign Exchange Control closed down 2.2% today; Ping Bao surged 5.7%. In terms of other blue chips, AIA (01299) increased by 3.3%; the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (00388) rose 1%; Ideal Auto (02015) last reported layoffs after the May 1st holiday, falling 3.8% to record eight consecutive losses; Xinyi Solar (00968) added 8% to wrap up blue chips.
The Dow closed at 4,003 points on Friday (17th), up 134 points, or 0.34%; the standard rose 0.12% to 5,303 points; and the NASDAQ fell 0.07% to 16,685 points. The Golden Dragon Index, which reflects the performance of Chinese concept stocks, climbed 0.38%; the People's Bank of China launched a combo punch to save the property market, and Fangduoduo's ADR stock price surged 3.2 times GameStop (GME). The initial results also showed a decline in first-quarter sales, which dragged down the stock price closing by 19.7%, erasing part of the 179% increase in the first two days of this week; AMC, another similarly fluctuating “meme stock”, repeatedly returned 5.2%. The Asia-Pacific stock market moved individually this morning (20th). The Nikkei 225 Index now reports 39,318 points, up 531 points, or 1.37%. The South Korea Composite Index is now 2,746 points, up 21 points, or 0.81%. The opening of the Hong Kong stock market continued to be strong, and the advance upward trend continued uninterrupted.
Market Focus: Bank of China Hong Kong (02388)
BOCHK (2388) announced that net operating income for the first quarter of 2024 after deducting impairment preparations was HK$17.79 billion, up 16.8% year on year, profit before provision increased 21.5% year on year, and operating profit increased 16.8% year on year. In the first quarter, adjusted net interest income increased 20.5% year on year. Group size growth continued to outperform peers. The overall handling fee business picked up. Non-interest income performance was better than expected. Net fee revenue increased 1.5% year on year, and other non-interest income increased 10.8% year on year. In order to meet business development needs, the Group has launched a series of customized “yuan power” RMB trade service solutions to provide one-stop comprehensive services for enterprises in multiple industries and different trade formats. By the end of March this year, the Group's RMB trade finance balance had increased by nearly 30% compared to the end of last year. The Group continues to give full play to its advantages in RMB clearing and product services, continuously innovating RMB cross-border usage scenarios, improving the offshore RMB and cross-border RMB ecosystems, and empowering the high-quality development of the real economy with financial power.
Target price is $30, stop loss price is $22.5.
(The author is the Chairman of the Hong Kong Association of Stock Analysts and the author does not hold the above shares)
Author: Dr. Tang Sheng-hing, Chairman of the Hong Kong Association of Equities Analysts