HK Midday: Hang Seng Drops 0.93%; JD.com Plunges 10%, Gold Miners Surge

Hong Kong's three major indexes traded lower at the midday break on August 14. The Hang Seng Index fell 0.93% or 236.26 points to 25,160.25, with half-day turnover of approximately HK$135.7 billion. The Hang Seng Tech Index lost 1.79% to 4,706.73, while the HSCEI dipped 0.85% to 8,354.65.

Tech names were broadly under pressure. JD.com (09618.HK) tumbled more than 10% to HK$110.6 following its quarterly results; Meituan (03690.HK) dropped over 5% to HK$86.2; Alibaba (09988.HK) fell more than 2%; and Xiaomi (01810.HK) declined over 1%. JD Health (06618.HK) shed more than 4%, while JD Logistics (02618.HK) slumped nearly 13%. Tencent (00700.HK) bucked the trend with a marginal 0.5% gain to HK$443.4. JD.com reported a more than 20% rise in Q2 adjusted net profit, but the market remains cautious on its second-half outlook. Brokers noted that the current earnings season has delivered generally underwhelming results, weighing on the broader index.

Gold miners shine; China Gold International surges nearly 13%

Gold stocks rallied across the board. China Gold International (02099.HK) soared nearly 13% to HK$211.4, hitting an intraday high of HK$212.6 after reporting stellar interim results — profit attributable to shareholders surged 153% year-on-year to US$507 million, while sales revenue climbed 57.52% to US$914 million. Lingbao Gold (03330.HK) rose more than 5% to HK$21.66, Chifeng Gold (06693.HK) added over 2%, and Zijin Mining (02899.HK) gained nearly 2%.

Semiconductor stocks diverge; Hua Hong tumbles 12%, SMIC edges up

Hua Hong Semiconductor (01347.HK) plunged more than 12% to HK$129.1 on turnover of HK$7.1 billion, succumbing to profit-taking despite Goldman Sachs raising its target price to HK$335 after Q2 net profit surged 3.8 times. SMIC (00981.HK) bucked the trend, rising nearly 2% to HK$68.85, after Q2 revenue exceeded US$3 billion and net profit jumped 2.6 times; the company sees AI driving demand in the second half.

Among individual movers, MTR Corporation (00066.HK) gained more than 2% after first-half profit more than doubled. Aceso Life Science (00474.HK) surged nearly 32% upon resuming trading, swinging to a full-year profit of HK$338 million. Master Kong (00322.HK) rose nearly 2%, hitting a fresh intraday high. CK Asset Holdings (01113.HK) slumped more than 7%.