"Market Review" US-Iran Ceasefire, Hang Seng Index Soars 3%, Tech and Metal Stocks Surge

The United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire in exchange for Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz, causing international oil prices to plummet, while Hong Kong stocks surged today (8th) after the holiday. U.S. President Trump had threatened to destroy Iranian civilization, but as a mediator, Pakistan requested a two-week extension for the escalation of the conflict on Tuesday. The market is focused on the U.S.-Iran conflict, with the Dow Jones and Nasdaq each falling 0.2% and rising 0.1% respectively on the evening of the 7th. At the time of writing, the yield on U.S. 2-year bonds fell to 3.719%, the yield on U.S. 10-year bonds fell to 4.232%, and the U.S. dollar index dropped to 98.9. Dow futures rose by 1,063 points or 2.27%, while Nasdaq futures rose by 801 points or 3.3%. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 104 points or 2.7% to close at 3,995 points, the Shenzhen Component Index rose 4.8%, and the ChiNext Index rose 5.9%, with a total trading volume of 2.43 trillion yuan in the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets.

Hong Kong stocks resumed trading after the Easter and Qingming Festival holidays, opening 656 points higher this morning, and later surged by 817 points to a high of 25,934 points, closing at 25,893 points, up 776 points or 3.1%; the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 220 points or 2.6% to close at 8,677 points; the Hang Seng Tech Index rose 244 points or 5.2% to close at 4,923 points. The total trading volume for the day increased to 372.437 billion yuan. The total trading volume for northbound trading was 154.482 billion yuan, while southbound funds saw a net outflow of 21.574 billion yuan today (after a net inflow of 19.828 billion yuan on the previous trading day). HSBC Holdings (00005.HK) rose 6.6% to close at 138.6 yuan, Standard Chartered (02888.HK) rose 8.3%, and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (00388.HK) rose 4.1%.

AI stock KNOWLEDGE ATLAS (02513.HK) surged 11.5%, with its new open-source model GLM-5.1 GLM increasing prices by 10%. MiniMax (00100.HK) rose 5.2%. Changfei Fiber Optic Cable (06869.HK) jumped 18.9% to close at 224.8 yuan, with a trading volume of 6.84 billion yuan.

【U.S.-Iran Ceasefire Boosts Metal Stocks】

Negotiations between the U.S. and Iran will take place on Friday (10th) in the capital of Pakistan, where it is reported that during the ceasefire, Iran and Oman will charge ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. International oil prices plummeted, with Brent crude for June falling 12.6% to $95.53 per barrel, while CNOOC (00883.HK) saw its stock price decline by 3.3%. PetroChina (00857.HK) fell nearly 2%. Sinopec (00386.HK) rose 2.8%. Coal stock Shenhua (01088.HK) fell 2.1%. Gold mining stocks Zijin (02899.HK) and Lingbao (03330.HK) rose 5.3% and 9.3% respectively, while China Gold International (02099.HK) rose 10.8%. Resource stocks Jiangxi Copper (00358.HK) and Minmetals Resources (01208.HK) rose 8.7% and 10% respectively, while Long Resources (01712.HK) and Luoyang Molybdenum (03993.HK) rose 10.2% to 10.6%.

Citi published a report stating that with the U.S. and Iran agreeing to a two-week ceasefire and Iran agreeing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump has also received a "step down," and the bank has increased its risk exposure again The bank pointed out that the 14-day ceasefire between the US and Iran may not be sufficient for Gulf exporting countries to regain confidence in restoring production to pre-war levels, but at least it can release goods trapped behind the strait, providing much-needed relief. Both sides have the motivation to continue negotiations after two weeks, but the bank expects both parties to test each other's bottom lines. Nevertheless, the bank has decided to withdraw its "defensive" stance taken after the outbreak of war and return to a benchmark allocation: "benchmark allocation" for the mainland Chinese market, "10% underweight" for Taiwan, "15% overweight" for South Korea, "20% underweight" for Australia, "10% overweight" for India, "benchmark allocation" for Singapore, "30% underweight" for Malaysia, consistent with other ASEAN markets (Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines). The Hong Kong market is "20% overweight." With the ceasefire, Lyon stated that it would re-increase cyclical allocations.

【1,600 stocks rise, tech stocks up】

Hong Kong stocks turned strong today, with a rise-to-fall ratio of 40 to 14 for main board stocks, with 1,666 rising stocks (up 4.6%); 73 constituent stocks of the Hang Seng Index rose today, while 15 fell, with a rise-to-fall ratio of 81 to 17; the market recorded short selling of HKD 62.789 billion, accounting for 18.358% of the shortable stock turnover of HKD 342.03 billion.

The State Administration for Market Regulation requires Meituan-W (03690.HK), Taobao Flash Sale, and JD-SW (09618.HK) to strengthen their primary responsibility for food safety. Meituan rose 10.3% to close at HKD 88.5, with a turnover of HKD 9.28 billion. Alibaba-W (09988.HK) rose 6.8% to close at HKD 126.5, with a turnover of HKD 22.72 billion, and JD rose 3.6% for the day. In other tech stocks, Tencent (00700.HK) rose 3.8%.

The State Administration for Market Regulation recently held an administrative guidance meeting for takeaway platform companies in Beijing, guiding Meituan, Alibaba's Taobao Flash Sale, and JD to strictly implement the upcoming "Regulations on the Supervision and Management of Food Safety Responsibilities of Online Catering Service Operators," strengthening the primary responsibility for food safety and taking practical and effective measures to ensure consumer food safety. The meeting required takeaway platform companies to strictly comply with legal and regulatory requirements, aligning with the regulations in detail, comprehensively implementing the platform's food safety primary responsibilities from five aspects: implementing qualification review responsibilities, management guarantee responsibilities, social disclosure responsibilities, emergency management responsibilities, and collaborative supervision responsibilities. The meeting emphasized that takeaway platform companies should use the formal implementation date of June 1 for these regulations as a time node, reverse the schedule, and comprehensively review existing systems, processes, personnel allocation, and technical guarantees in accordance with the requirements of the regulations, and quickly carry out self-inspection and rectification