The US and Iran exchanged attacks over the weekend, leading to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz again yesterday, escalating tensions and pushing international oil prices up this morning. New York crude oil rose nearly 4% to $74.21, while Brent crude oil also increased by over 3.8% to $78.96; gold prices, on the other hand, fell, with spot gold dropping over 1% to $4,075. Analysts suggest that the escalation in the Middle East may trigger some volatility this week, with the Hang Seng Index likely fluctuating between 23,800 and 24,000 points in the short term.

South Korea's Central Bank Supports Semiconductors, Korean Stocks Still Down Over 3%

In the Asia-Pacific stock market, the Bank of Korea reported that the global semiconductor market remains in short supply, predicting that the AI-driven supercycle will continue for some time, attempting to dispel investors' concerns about the peak of the chip cycle. However, Korean stocks still fell this morning, dropping over 3.3% to 7,223 points; key stock SK Hynix (Korean: 000660) fell over 8%, while Samsung Electronics (Korean: 005930) dropped about 3.8%. Additionally, Japanese stocks also fell over 1% to 67,804 points this morning.

China Hongqiao Reports Positive Earnings, Opens Nearly 3% Higher

In the Hong Kong stock market, the Hang Seng Index opened down 17 points at 24,157 points. Among blue-chip stocks, China Hongqiao (1378) reported a positive earnings forecast, expecting to earn about 39% more in the first half, with its stock opening up 2.7%, performing the best; Hansoh Pharmaceutical (3692) also rose 2.6%.

Major tech stocks showed mixed developments, with Alibaba (9988) opening up 0.5%; Tencent (700) up 0.7%; Meituan (3690) down 0.8%; Xiaomi (1810) unchanged; and JD.com (9618) down 0.2%.

GigaDevice Unlocks Shares, Stock Price Drops Nearly 12%

In individual stock news, GigaDevice (3986) faced a share unlock today, involving about 14.39 million shares, with an estimated unlock market value of about HKD 10.69 billion based on last Friday's closing price. The stock opened at HKD 654, dropping nearly 12%.

BASICSEMI Announces Price Increases for Products

BASICSEMI (9971) announced that starting from the third quarter, it will moderately adjust the sales prices of certain products to support ongoing R&D investments, ensuring product quality and supply stability, with some products expected to see price increases of up to 25%. The stock opened at HKD 35.82, rising 1.8%.

XunCe Partners with Italian AI Company

XunCe (3317) announced that it has signed a strategic cooperation memorandum with the Italian digital and AI service company Lutech to jointly develop AI transformation solutions for the European market, promote the commercialization of AI Token factories in Europe, and build a cross-border innovation ecosystem centered on AI and secure data infrastructure. The stock opened at HKD 89.45, unchanged.

ZhiPu Sets "Touch High Plan"

Additionally, ZhiPu (2513) founder Tang Jie sent an internal letter stating that as the industry accelerates commercial monetization, the company has decided to break through upwards, naming the related strategy the "Touch High Plan," directly targeting Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) as the next high ground, and will focus future investments on four core engines The stock opened at 1720 HKD, up 4.88%.

Related article: The internal letter from Zhipu reveals that the Touch High strategy points directly to AGI as the next high ground "not reaching the top is a failure."

The Hang Seng Index may fluctuate between 23800 and 24000

Zhi Yao Hui, Director of Research at Yao Cai Securities, stated that the escalation of the situation in the Middle East may cause fluctuations early this week, but such geopolitical events are not new. If oil prices do not fluctuate significantly, the impact on Hong Kong stocks will be limited and short-lived. Additionally, the rise of Hong Kong stocks since July has indeed been faster than expected, and it is not ruled out that there may be a consolidation in the short term, with the Hang Seng Index fluctuating between 23800 and 24000 points.

Chief Financial Analyst at Gao Ge Securities, Nie Zhen Bang, also pointed out that the market's sensitivity to the Middle East conflict has significantly decreased compared to March. It is expected that Hong Kong stocks will adjust today, but the extent should be relatively mild. If the Hang Seng Index can stabilize above 24000 points at closing, the trend for this week remains optimistic.

The enthusiasm for new stocks has significantly weakened compared to the past

On the other hand, the new stock market in Hong Kong has slowed down. Zhi Yao Hui indicated that the enthusiasm and performance for new stock subscriptions have significantly weakened compared to the past. With the market's focus shifting to the unlocking of semi-new stocks, even if the new stock market pauses, there may not be a significant inflow of funds from the primary market back to the secondary market. Instead, it is possible that some profit-taking funds will exit first, waiting for the stocks to adjust before increasing their allocation.

In terms of data, the second quarter GDP, June "three driving forces," and import and export data from the mainland will be released this week. Nie Zhen Bang stated that if multiple data released throughout the week are generally weaker than expected, the market may become concerned about the economic outlook for the mainland in the third quarter, thereby increasing downward pressure on Hong Kong stocks. Looking ahead to this week, in addition to the mainland, the U.S. June CPI, PPI, and core retail data will also be released this week, and the relevant data may affect the future interest rate trends of the U.S. Federal Reserve