Hong Kong's three major stock indices posted significant gains on November 24, with the AI sector leading the charge. The Hang Seng Index rose 1.97% to close at 25,716.50, while the Hang Seng Tech Index jumped 2.78% to 5,545.56. Market turnover reached HK$302.6 billion, with southbound net inflows hitting HK$8.571 billion.
**AI Stocks Rally** AI-related stocks saw broad-based gains. Kuaishou-W surged 7.11%, NetEase-S climbed 5.87%, Bilibili-W advanced 5.67%, Kingsoft Cloud rose 4.96%, and Alibaba-W gained 4.67%.
The rally followed Alibaba's announcement that its AI assistant "Qianwen App" surpassed 10 million downloads in its first week of public testing since November 17. The app quickly ranked among Apple's App Store top three free downloads, demonstrating strong market demand.
Qianwen App is powered by Alibaba's proprietary Qwen large language model, which has gained global traction through open-source initiatives since 2023, accumulating over 600 million downloads. The model has received public endorsement from industry leaders including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. The app positions itself as a practical "personal AI assistant for conversation and task completion."
**Biotech Outperforms** Innovative drugmakers also outperformed, with 3SBio rising 6.07%, Hengrui Pharmaceuticals up 5.61%, Hansoh Pharma gaining 5.29%, and WuXi AppTec increasing 5.12%.
China Galaxy Securities maintains a positive outlook on the pharmaceutical sector for 2026, noting valuations have retreated to attractive levels after recent corrections. The firm recommends focusing on innovative drugs, medical devices (imaging, high-value consumables, consumer health tech), and medical AI, alongside recovery plays in healthcare consumption and independent clinical labs (ICL).
**Baidu Upgraded by JPMorgan** Baidu Group-SW rose 4.19% after JPMorgan upgraded the stock from "neutral" to "overweight." The bank values Baidu's cloud business at approximately $34 billion, suggesting the market underestimates its transformation potential. While acknowledging strong AI-driven ad revenue growth, JPMorgan cautioned that expansion in AI-based advertising could erode traditional search ad revenue, projecting a 10% decline in total ad revenue by 2026. The bank also forecasts Kunlun chip sales could grow sixfold to RMB 8.3 billion.
**UBS: Chinese Tech Giants Boost AI Spending** UBS China internet research head noted that major Chinese tech firms are increasing capital expenditures to accelerate AI development. Despite geopolitical concerns about chip supply constraints, UBS argues spending remains demand-driven. Compared to global peers, Chinese companies prioritize GPU efficiency and utilization, enabling faster adjustments to investment targets.
On the hardware front, domestic GPU performance is improving rapidly due to local R&D and manufacturer advancements. System-level "super-node" technology compensates for single-chip GPU gaps by expanding per-rack GPU counts, enhancing computing power. Algorithmically, local developers are optimizing large models for domestic GPUs.
Q2 earnings reports showed leading Chinese cloud providers maintaining full-year capex guidance while emphasizing chip utilization efficiency and deployment flexibility, including domestic substitution options amid supply chain uncertainties.
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