On May 18, the three major Hong Kong stock indices all faced downward pressure. At the close, the Hang Seng Index fell 1.11% to 25,675.18 points, with a full-day turnover of HKD 292.712 billion. The Hang Seng Tech Index declined 1.95% to 4,844.94 points. By size, the top three Hong Kong-related ETFs performed as follows: Tracker Fund (02800) dropped 1.15% to HKD 25.82. Among mainland ETFs tracking the Hang Seng Tech Index, ChinaAMC Hang Seng Tech ETF (513180) fell 1.91% to CNY 0.617, and Huatai-PineBridge Hang Seng Tech ETF (513130) decreased 1.78% to CNY 0.608.
Sector performance saw South Korean stocks stage a significant V-shaped rebound, with Samsung Electronics' share price reversing from losses to gains, surging over 6% intraday. By the close, CSOP 2X Long Samsung ETF (07747) rose 3.92% to HKD 141.9. On May 18, South Korea's KOSPI index plunged over 4.5% in early trading, triggering a circuit breaker, before rebounding strongly in a V-shaped pattern to close up 0.31% at 7,516 points. A South Korean court approved part of Samsung Electronics' injunction request, ordering the Samsung union to ensure its strike actions do not affect production. The court also ruled that the Samsung Electronics union in South Korea could face daily fines of approximately KRW 100 million for non-compliance.
U.S. President Trump's warning to Iran and Brent crude surpassing USD 110 per barrel boosted oil-related ETFs. At the close, F Samsung S&P GSCI Crude Oil ER Futures ETF (03175) gained 2.96% to HKD 11.48, and Global X S&P GSCI Crude Oil ER Futures ETF (03097) increased 2.78% to HKD 9.785. Additionally, Wells Fargo S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Select Industry Index ETF (513350) hit the daily limit-up, trading at a premium exceeding 11%. In international oil markets, Brent crude breached the USD 110 per barrel level. U.S. President Trump warned Iran on May 17, stating "time is running out for Iran, they better act fast, or they will have nothing left." Multiple media reports indicated Trump discussed the possibility of resuming military action against Iran in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu earlier that day.
Computing power demand catalysts lifted ETFs related to the digital economy and AI. At the close, ICBC Digital Economy ETF (561220) rose 2.91% to CNY 1.837, GF STAR Market AI ETF (588760) gained 2.56% to CNY 0.923, and E Fund Telecom ETF (563010) increased 2.24% to CNY 2.372. Benefiting from the explosive growth in Token consumption driven by AI application proliferation, "Token factories" are accelerating from concept to implementation. China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom have launched trial commercial Token packages. Furthermore, domestic memory chip giant ChangXin Technology updated its prospectus on May 17, forecasting revenue of CNY 110 billion to CNY 120 billion for the first half of 2026, a year-on-year increase of 612.53% to 677.31%, and projected net profit attributable to shareholders of CNY 50 billion to CNY 57 billion, a surge of 2244.03% to 2544.19%, significantly exceeding expectations.
Institutional views: Debond Fund Manager Lei Tao stated this market trend results from AI restructuring the supply-demand dynamics in memory storage. It begins with the explosive demand for HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) from AI computing chips, prompting major memory manufacturers to shift strategic focus to data center and related business lines. The top three global memory manufacturers are proactively reducing general-purpose capacity in favor of AI demand. Concurrently, learning from past cycles of oversupply and price declines following major capacity expansions, manufacturers are adopting a relatively cautious approach to capacity expansion during this super-cycle.
Huatai Securities released a Hong Kong stock strategy note, indicating the market still faces two major external challenges. On one hand, the impact of the oil supply shock is nearing a concentrated release tipping point. On the other hand, inflation expectations are pushing up global sovereign bond yields, and monetary policy has limitations in addressing supply shocks. Internally, southbound capital positioning still requires clearing. Huatai Securities recommends navigating valuation and liquidity headwinds with earnings certainty, focusing on two main themes: cash flow certainty and industry trend certainty.
ETF developments: Yinhua HK Healthcare ETF (513620) listed today, closing down 3.1% at CNY 0.939 with a turnover of CNY 37.8469 million. This ETF tracks the CSI Hong Kong Stock Connect Healthcare Theme Index, which selects Hong Kong Stock Connect-listed companies involved in medical devices, services, and informatization, using free-float market capitalization weighting to reflect the overall performance of the Hong Kong Stock Connect healthcare sector.
Comments