Pre-market trend | Bank of China (3988.HK) steadily rises on 5/14, are bank stocks gearing up for another step up?

Yesterday, Bank of China’s stock price rose moderately by 1.34%, closing at HKD 5.29, with an intraday high of HKD 5.33, fluctuating within a narrow range of HKD 5.23 to HKD 5.33 throughout the day. The MACD daily line confirmed a golden cross above the zero axis, indicating that medium-term bullish momentum is accumulating, and buying power is steadily recovering. The trading volume was approximately HKD 1.308 billion, which is considered a normal high level for the stock recently, with good capital participation. The overall trend exhibits a characteristic "slow bull" rhythm typical of large bank stocks, with a healthy combination of volume and price. On the news front, the Ministry of Commerce stated on May 14 that the total value of China’s goods trade imports and exports increased by 14.9% year-on-year in the first four months of 2026, indicating a continued improvement in the fundamentals of foreign trade, which indirectly benefits the asset quality and credit issuance of banks. Meanwhile, the new chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, is facing inflationary pressures, and the market expects U.S. Treasury yields to remain high for an extended period, supporting the interest margin logic for Chinese bank stocks in the China-U.S. interest rate differential environment. The Hong Kong stock bank sector has recently stabilized overall, with active trading in China Construction Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China on the same day, showing a clear sector linkage effect. As a representative of high-dividend assets, Bank of China continues to attract allocation funds in the current macro environment. From a technical perspective, Bank of China is currently holding above HKD 5.22 (the closing price yesterday), with the 5-day moving average turning upwards, and short-term support in the range of HKD 5.20-5.22. If it can break through the recent high of HKD 5.33 with increased volume, it is expected to open up further upward space