The Hang Seng Index rose 192 points throughout the day, with XPeng and HORIZONROBOT-W up 7%, and gaming stocks favored

The Bank of Japan raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 0.75% as expected this morning (19th), reaching a nearly thirty-year high. The U.S. core CPI for November hit its lowest level since early 2021, increasing market expectations for the Federal Reserve to cut rates next year. CME interest rate futures reflect that the market estimates nearly a 60% chance of a rate cut in March next year, higher than the previous trading day. Hong Kong stocks performed well this morning, with the Hang Seng Index opening up 136 points and the gains expanding, rising by 248 points in the afternoon to a high of 25,747 points, closing up 192 points or nearly 0.8% at 25,690 points. The National Index rose 59 points or 0.7% to 8,901 points. The Hang Seng Tech Index closed at 5,479 points, up 60 points or 1.1%. The total market turnover for the day was HKD 221.186 billion.

Automobile and related equipment stocks were favored, with XPENG-W (09868.HK) rising 7.7% to HKD 76.65, with a turnover of HKD 2.473 billion. HORIZONROBOT-W (09660.HK) also rose 7%, with a turnover of HKD 2.908 billion. Leapmotor (09863.HK), Li Auto-W (02015.HK), and Nio-SW (09866.HK) rose 5.7%, 3.8%, and 2.3% respectively. Hesai-W (02525.HK) and SOTY (02498.HK) rose 4.6% and 3.3% respectively. Chang'an Automobile (02333.HK), Xiaomi-W (01810.HK), and Geely (00175.HK) rose between 0.8% and 1%, while GAC (02238.HK) and Seres (09927.HK) rose between 2.6% and 3%. BYD (01211.HK) fell slightly by 0.2%.

TikTok and Oracle (ORCL.US) formed a joint venture in the U.S., with ByteDance retaining its e-commerce and advertising business in the U.S. Technology stocks generally rose moderately, with Alibaba-W (09988.HK) up 0.8%. JD.com-SW (09618.HK) fell slightly by 0.8%. Tencent (00700.HK), Meituan-W (03690.HK), and NetEase-S (09999.HK) rose between 1.3% and 1.5%, while Baidu-SW (09888.HK) and Kuaishou-W (01024.HK) rose between 1% and 1.5%. Bilibili-W (09626.HK) rose 0.5%. In the chip sector, SMIC (00981.HK) and Hua Hong (01347.HK) rose 0.5% and 0.7% respectively.

In the financial sector, HSBC (00005.HK) reached a new post-net interest high of HKD 119.8 during the day, closing up 0.5% at HKD 119.3. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (00388.HK) and AIA (01299.HK) closed up between 1.3% and 1.4%.

Nike (NKE.US) reported better-than-expected quarterly results but forecasted a decline in sales for the current quarter, plunging 10% in after-hours trading. Shenzhou (02313.HK) fell 3.2%, marking the largest decline among blue-chip stocks Li Ning (02331.HK) and Anta (02020.HK) fell by 0.6% to 0.7%.

JP Morgan stated that the recent pullback in the mainland medical industry provides a buying opportunity and believes that geopolitical concerns regarding China's pharmaceutical research outsourcing industry (CXO) have peaked. WuXi Biologics (02269.HK) rose by 4.4%, the largest increase among blue-chip stocks; its affiliate WuXi AppTec (02359.HK) rose by 1.5%. Nongfu Spring (09633.HK) and Hang Lung Properties (00101.HK) each rose by over 3%. Additionally, Yangtze Optical Fibre (06869.HK) rose by 12%, with a turnover of HKD 3.317 billion.

With the Christmas holiday approaching, Macau media cited that Zhang Jianzhong, chairman of the Macau Tourism Industry Association, expects the average hotel occupancy rate during this Christmas period to reach over 85%, remaining basically flat to slightly up compared to the same period last year. Gaming stocks are favored, with the two major blue-chip gaming stocks, Galaxy Entertainment (00027.HK) and Sands China (01928.HK), rising by 2.7% to 2.9%. MGM (02282.HK) surged in the last trading hours, closing up 6.6%. SJM Holdings (00880.HK) and Melco International Development (00200.HK) rose by 2.9% to 3.4%. Wynn Macau (01128.HK) slightly increased by 0.5%