Hong Kong stocks closed (07.24) | The Hang Seng Index closed down 0.98%, technology and non-ferrous metals were under pressure throughout the day, and Bank of Hong Kong stocks rose against the market

The Zhitong Finance App learned that the three major indices of Hong Kong stocks declined across the board today. The Hang Seng Index remained weak and volatile after opening low in early trading. The general decline in TechNet stocks dragged down the market. At one point, the Hengke Index fell more than 2%. At the close, the Hang Seng Index fell 0.98% or 247.58 points to 24963.23 points, with a full-day turnover of HK$209.877 billion; the State-owned Enterprises Index fell 0.98% to 8271.06 points; and the Hang Seng Technology Index fell 1.47% to 4629.51 points. Looking at the whole week, the Hang Seng Index rose 1.63%, the National Index rose 1.65%, and the Hengke Index rose 0.14%.

GF Securities believes that the key for the second half of the year is whether liquidity pressure can be mitigated marginally, but the trend reversal still requires improvements in overseas liquidity to steadily resonate with its own fundamentals. Hong Kong stocks are internally facing a period of transition between old and new momentum. The recovery in profits from old kinetic energy is not elastic, and new momentum has yet to gain momentum. Liquidity is the core that dominates market trends. Currently, the liquidity of Hong Kong stocks is facing pressure from the simultaneous withdrawal of industrial capital, foreign capital, and southbound capital.

Blue-chip stock performance

BOCHK (02388) led the blue chip increase. At the close, it rose 5.98% to HK$51.25, with a turnover of HK$1,943 billion, contributing 16.42 points to the Hang Seng Index. J.P. Morgan upgraded BOCHK's investment rating from “neutral” to “increased holdings”, and the target price was raised from HK$43.3 to HK$53.3. The bank also raised BOCHK's profit forecast for the 2026 and 2027 fiscal years by 8% and 9%. It is expected that the stock price will continue to outperform the market over the next 6 to 12 months, supported by reasonable valuations and excellent returns to total shareholders.

In terms of other blue-chip stocks, Geely Auto (00175) rose 2.92% to HK$19.06, contributing 5.36 points; BeiGene (06160) rose 2.79% to HK$199.2, contributing 10.04 points to the Hang Seng Index; Xinyi Glass (00868) fell 5.14% to HK$8.85, dragging down 1.69 points; Luoyang Molybdenum (03993) fell 4.49% to HK$16.82, dragging down the Hang Seng Index by 4.52 points.

Popular sector aspects

On the market, large technology stocks generally fell, with Alibaba falling more than 4% and Tencent falling by more than 2%. Interest rate hikes are expected to rise, and the Bank of Hong Kong's net interest spreads are expected to widen. Hong Kong's local bank stocks rose to a record high of nearly 6%; some beverage stocks surged in the afternoon, and Andeley's juice once rose nearly 28%; China's brain-computer interface welcomed an important breakthrough. Brain Action Aurora morning trading rose 16% and then fell back down. On the other side, the PCB concept and non-ferrous metals had the highest declines; domestic housing stocks, aviation stocks, and heavy machinery stocks were under pressure.

1. Local bank stocks in Hong Kong reversed the market. At the close, Bank of East Asia (00023) rose 6.03% to HK$14.94; BOCHK (02388) rose 5.98% to HK$51.25; and Dah Sing Bank Group (02356) rose 5.56% to HK$13.68.

Due to rising oil prices, US Treasury yields rose to the highest level in the year, and the market expects the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates as soon as next week. Traders recently forecast that the probability that the Federal Reserve will raise the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points at next week's interest rate meeting is about 31%, and the probability of keeping interest rates unchanged is 69%. According to reports, the increase in net interest spreads in the interest rate hike environment is expected to benefit the profits of the Hong Kong banking industry. Huatai Securities previously pointed out that since the beginning of the year, foreign capital has increased its overall allocation to the Hong Kong stock financial sector, and the bank suggests seizing the opportunity to revalue the Bank of Hong Kong. In the next phase, we need to focus on the performance improvement opportunities brought about by the restoration of Hong Kong's economic fundamentals and stabilizing interest spreads.

2. Brain-computer interface concept moving high and low. At the close, Nanjing Panda Electronics (00553) fell 2.99% to HK$3.24; Minimally Invasive Brain Science (02172) fell 2.24% to HK$8.73; and Brain Aurora-B (06681) fell 1.2% to HK$1.65.

China's research team released a novel EEG signal acquisition device. For the first time in the world, thousands of people can simultaneously collect EEG signals across regions. It has taken a key step in the development of general technology for neural model training and brain-computer interface. It is worth mentioning that supporting policies related to brain-computer interfaces have recently been intensively introduced. The “Fifteenth Five-Year Plan for National Health” issued by the State Council clearly proposes strengthening scientific and technological research in fields such as brain-computer interfaces; 14 departments including the Ministry of Civil Affairs have issued three-year plans for rehabilitation aids. Everbright Securities believes that with the intensive release of industry policies and the acceleration of iterative technology updates, this year is expected to be a key year for brain-computer interfaces to enter technology implementation and commercialization.

3. Non-ferrous metals recorded the highest decline. At the close, Luoyang Molybdenum (03993) fell 4.49% to HK$16.82; China Aluminum (02600) fell 3.82% to HK$8.3; and Zijin Mining (02899) fell 3.4% to HK$32.38.

The situation in the US and Iran is heating up, oil prices are returning to 100 yuan, and inflation expectations have rekindled the impact of multiple shocks. US bond yields have climbed to a high level for many years to suppress the negative trend. On July 23, the 10-year US Treasury yield rose 4 basis points to 4.71%, the highest level since January 2025. On July 24, US Treasury yields continued to rise collectively. The 10-year US Treasury yield rose to a new high of 4.7135%. The 30-year US Treasury yield reached 5.1753%. According to the Guojin Securities Research Report, the recent rebound in gold and silver is the result of the collapse of technological momentum and the outward rotation of capital, rather than confirmation of a new round of trending markets.

4. Aviation stocks are under collective pressure. At the close, Eastern Airlines (00670) fell 3.46% to HK$3.07; China Southern Airlines (01055) fell 2.61% to HK$3.36; and Air China (00753) fell 2.16% to HK$4.07.

Affected by the escalation of the situation between the US and Iran, Brent crude oil futures hit $100 per barrel on Thursday, the first time since late May. The current situation between the US and Iran has once again escalated, and there are triple supply restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz, the Strait of Mander, and the Black Sea. US President Trump threatened to step up the crackdown, saying he was considering launching a “large-scale attack.” Affected by the Middle East war driving up aviation fuel prices, the losses of the three major state-owned airlines in the first half of the year are expected to increase dramatically over the same period last year. Based on the performance forecast range, the three companies expect total net losses attributable to shareholders of listed companies in the first half of this year to be 7.373 billion yuan to 8.973 billion yuan.

Popular exotic stocks

Xinjiang Xinxin Mining (03833) had a positive profit. At the close, it rose 7.95% to HK$1.9.

Xinjiang Xinxin Mining expects revenue of about 1,266 billion yuan in the first half of 2026, up 13.2% year on year; net profit of about 257 million yuan, up about 259.4% year on year. The sharp increase in performance was mainly due to rising prices of electrolytic nickel and cathode copper products, and the profitability of the company's core products increased significantly.

Lanqi Technology (06809) performed well. At the close, it rose 6.67% to HK$332.6.

Lanqi Technology announced that it plans to repurchase A-shares through centralized bidding transactions. The repurchase amount is not less than 300 million yuan and no more than 600 million yuan, and the repurchase price is not more than 332.90 yuan/share. The repurchase period is within 3 months from the date of review and approval by the board of directors. The repurchase funds come from the company's own funds, and the shares are repurchased to protect the company's value and shareholders' rights.

Zhi Spectrum (02513) reversed the market and rose 5.64% to HK$1,237 by the close.

The intelligent spectrum GLM 5.2 model recently faced a dangerous rescue incident where AI got out of control. The company said in an official Weibo post that this incident is more convinced of the value of GLM 5.2 open source. GLM 5.2 is a model released by Smart Spectrum AI in mid-June this year. Its performance is comparable to Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.8 and OpenAI's GPT-5.5.

Modern Animal Husbandry (01117) continued its upward trend. At the close, it rose 3.25% to HK$1.27.

Hyundai Animal Husbandry is making a profit. It is expected to obtain a profit before tax of not less than RMB 43 million in the first half of 2026, turning a loss into a profit over the same period last year. The increase in profit was mainly due to a year-on-year decrease in fair value changes and losses for dairy cows due to a decrease in the number of cattle rushing and an increase in the price of cattle rushing. The gross margin of raw milk sales remained stable and gross profit increased.

Geely Auto (00175) was active throughout the day. By the close, it was up 2.92% to HK$19.06.

Geely Auto plans to spend 221 million euros to acquire 34% of Ford's Spanish plant to promote a localized production layout in Europe. The acquisition will help the company directly enter mature production platforms in Europe, so that it can produce some Geely brand cars locally for the European market and support the Group's localization strategy in Europe.