Hong Kong's三大股指 closed higher on Friday, with the Hang Seng Index reclaiming the 26,000-point level. The benchmark index rose 1.21% or 310.97 points to close at 26,009.46, with total turnover reaching HK$257.277 billion. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index advanced 1.01% to 8,634.34, while the Hang Seng Tech Index climbed 1.4% to 4,766.16. On a weekly basis, the Hang Seng Index gained 3.55%, the HSCEI rose 3.52%, and the HSTECH added 1.24%.
Brokerage China Merchants Securities noted a series of positive developments in the Hong Kong market recently. First, the revision of the Hang Seng Tech Index methodology—expanding constituent stocks and incorporating revenue growth into screening criteria—has addressed concerns about the index's insufficient technology exposure. Second, from an industry trend perspective, AI profits are shifting from hardware and large models to cloud vendors, benefiting Hong Kong-listed companies. The firm remains optimistic about investment opportunities in the Hong Kong market going forward.
Where the blue chips stand
Henderson Land Development Co Ltd (00012) rallied after reporting results, closing up 7.17% at HK$30.2 with turnover of HK$820 million, contributing 4.42 points to the Hang Seng Index. The company posted interim results for 2026 with revenue of HK$17.203 billion, up 80.1% year-on-year, and net profit attributable to shareholders of HK$4.09 billion, a 40.65% increase. Basic earnings per share stood at HK$0.84, with an interim dividend of HK$0.5 per share declared.
Among other blue chips, Laopu Gold Co Ltd (06181) rose 7.46% to HK$397.8, contributing 2.68 points; CITIC Ltd (00267) gained 6.2% to HK$13.19, adding 6.85 points; CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd (01093) fell 3.47% to HK$9.19, dragging the index by 4.1 points; and Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp (00322) slipped 2.85% to HK$13.64, shaving 1.17 points off the benchmark.
Hot sector performance
Large tech stocks were mixed, with Xiaomi and NetEase surging over 4% and Tencent adding more than 1%. Bitcoin broke through US$75,000 amid multiple positive catalysts, sending related concept stocks and ETFs sharply higher, with Boyaa Interactive jumping nearly 24%. US Treasury buyback announcements lifted precious metals, extending gains for gold stocks. AI model concept stocks rallied collectively, while lithium carbonate's tight supply-demand dynamics propelled the "lithium twin giants" higher. Shipping, optical communications, and domestic insurance stocks also performed well. On the flip side, mRNA concept stocks that surged the previous day retreated, while pork and film entertainment stocks came under pressure.
Gold stocks strengthen again
Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining Co Ltd (06693) closed up 12.4% at HK$45.86, Shandong Gold Mining Co Ltd (01787) advanced 8.7% to HK$27.48, and Lingbao Gold Group Co Ltd (03330) gained 7.88% to HK$25.2. International gold prices rebounded sharply, with spot gold standing above US$4,560 and COMEX gold breaking through US$4,600. US Treasury Secretary Bessent has been signaling policy intentions, noting that individual long-dated Treasury buyback operations could exceed US$4 billion as long-term yields rise again, emphasizing the Treasury's robust toolkit. CICC believes increased Treasury buybacks boost demand for long-end notes and improve market liquidity on one hand, but on the other undermine confidence in Treasuries and the dollar—making gold the most direct beneficiary.
Lithium miners surge
Tianqi Lithium Corp (09696) jumped 11.74% to HK$37.7, while Ganfeng Lithium Group Co Ltd (01772) climbed 8.61% to HK$40.6. The lithium carbonate main contract surged over 4% today to 158,680 yuan per tonne, with cumulative gains exceeding 15% since the start of August. On the supply side, multiple producers including Sinomine Resource Group, Tianhua New Energy, and Jiuling Lithium have concentrated maintenance shutdowns in August, while inventories have declined for four consecutive weeks, indicating improving supply-demand dynamics. On the demand side, downstream production schedules remain robust. According to Xinluo Lithium's latest forecast, August battery sample enterprise production is projected at 203.76 GWh, up 8.73% month-on-month, exceeding expectations.
Shipping stocks extend gains
SITC International Holdings Co Ltd (01308) rose 5.41% to HK$49.06, COSCO Shipping Holdings Co Ltd (01919) gained 5.4% to HK$17.95, and Orient Overseas (International) Ltd (00316) advanced 4.56% to HK$176.7. NOAA's latest forecast confirms the El Ni帽o phenomenon as of August 2026, with a 97% probability of persisting into early spring 2027, including an 81% chance of a super El Ni帽o between October and December 2026. Meanwhile, Maersk recently raised its full-year 2026 guidance, projecting underlying EBITDA of US$10.5-12.5 billion. The container shipping index (Europe route) main contract surged over 10% to as high as 1,934 points on August 21, reaching a new high since June 3.
Optical communications rally
Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Joint Stock Ltd Co (06869) closed up 5.5% at HK$140, Zhongji Innolight Co Ltd (03308) gained 3.73% to HK$1,140, and CIG (CIG) (06166) rose 1.37% to HK$96.4. SK Hynix, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Virginia and other institutions, published a landmark paper in Nature Electronics outlining the development roadmap for co-packaged optics (CPO) technology in high-performance computing and AI, explicitly proposing for the first time the technical goal of extending optical interconnects to memory interfaces. This milestone validates the industry trend of CPO expanding from switch-level to storage-level applications, injecting new growth expectations into the optical communications and semiconductor supply chains.
Notable stock movements
MiniMax-W (00100) traded strongly, closing up 11.86% at HK$347.2. This week, MiniMax officially launched MiniMax Design, a multimodal creative Agent workbench. This is the first official creation harness built around H3 since its open-source release, aiming to bring the model's generation and editing capabilities into commercial content production workflows.
Dongyue Group Ltd (00189) remained strong throughout the session, closing up 9.65% at HK$13.52. The company reported 2026 interim results with revenue of RMB 8.06 billion, up 8% year-on-year, and net profit attributable to shareholders of RMB 1.027 billion, a 31.84% increase. During the period, driven by the overall fluorosilicon industry market, prices of several core products rose to varying degrees.
Chery Automobile Co Ltd (09973) advanced after results, closing up 5.56% at HK$26.96. The company posted first-half revenue of RMB 143.28 billion, up 1.2% year-on-year, with overseas market revenue reaching RMB 98.968 billion, a 51% increase, accounting for 69.07% of total revenue. New energy vehicle business revenue grew 63.8% to RMB 59.284 billion, with its share of total revenue rising from 25.6% in the same period last year to 41.4%.
Ping An Insurance (Group) Co of China Ltd (02318) was active, closing up 3.88% at HK$56.2. The company reported first-half operating revenue of RMB 575.138 billion, up 15% year-on-year, with net profit attributable to shareholders surging 36.1% to RMB 92.585 billion. The company maintains a strong focus on shareholder returns, raising its interim dividend to RMB 0.98 per share, up 3.2% year-on-year. First-half asset management segment net profit jumped 237% year-on-year, driven by active capital markets supporting diversified revenue growth.
Muyuan Foods Co Ltd (02714) remained under pressure throughout the day, closing down 5.07% at HK$33.7. The company reported first-half revenue of approximately RMB 59.41 billion, down 22.3% year-on-year, with a net loss attributable to shareholders of approximately RMB 6.078 billion, swinging from a profit a year earlier. The revenue decline was primarily attributed to a significant drop in hog selling prices compared to the previous year.
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