August 20 - Hong Kong's three major indices opened lower but closed higher. At market close, the Hang Seng Index gained 0.17% to 25,165.94 points, while the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 0.01% and the H-shares Index rose 0.08%.
On the sector front, internet technology stocks showed mixed performance with Bilibili up over 1%, Kuaishou down over 2%, and Baidu declining nearly 1%. Solar and photovoltaic stocks strengthened significantly, with Fuyao Glass surging over 15%. New consumption concept stocks rallied in the afternoon session, with POP MART climbing over 12%. Apple concept stocks led gains with Sunny Optical Technology rising over 9%. Innovative drug concept stocks continued to weaken, with Cstone Pharmaceuticals falling over 18%. East Buy jumped over 8% after yesterday's 20% decline. New listing Sinowafer Advanced Materials gained over 6% on its debut.
Solar and photovoltaic stocks strengthened with Fuyao Glass surging over 15%. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology convened another photovoltaic industry symposium to standardize competition in the solar sector. According to multiple industry sources, the August 19 meeting was a general assembly that did not discuss detailed implementation of "anti-involution" measures for various segments. Discussions on anti-involution rules for battery and module segments, silicon wafer segments, and polysilicon segments are expected over the next two days.
New consumption concept stocks rallied in the afternoon with POP MART up over 12%. A research report suggests that: 1) Catalyzed by changing consumption narratives, Hong Kong's new consumption stocks performed strongly in the first half of the year before entering a consolidation phase after mid-June. 2) Drawing from Japanese historical experience, the trend of consumer behavior shifting from mass market to personalized and rational consumption provides macro-logical support for the new consumption sector, with medium to long-term support remaining. 3) Hong Kong's new consumption stocks have higher content and more obvious growth compared to A-shares, with toy figures, beauty care, and pet-related sectors still holding investment value amid long-term consumption concept evolution and demographic changes.
Apple concept stocks led gains with Sunny Optical Technology rising over 9%. Sunny Optical Technology reported unaudited revenue of approximately RMB 19.652 billion for the first half of 2024, up about 4.2% year-over-year. Profit attributable to shareholders reached approximately RMB 1.646 billion, up about 52.6% compared to the same period last year.
Innovative drug concept stocks continued to decline with Cstone Pharmaceuticals falling over 18%. Securities analysts believe that from a valuation perspective, past innovative drug valuations were primarily domestically focused, with commercialization mainly through medical insurance or other channels to reach domestic patient markets. Overseas partnerships provide opportunities for Chinese innovative drugs to participate in the broader global market (nearly ten times the domestic market), with commercialization mainly through licensing to overseas companies to ultimately reach international markets. Considering the intensive period of innovative drug commercialization and continued clear policy support, the development trend and industrial upgrade trajectory for the innovative drug sector has become clearer.
East Buy surged over 8% after yesterday's 20% decline. Reports emerged that New Oriental CEO Zhou Chenggang might be under regulatory investigation for related-party transactions. Yu Minhong released a video today stating "Mr. Zhou's Australia prestigious university visit is about to begin, stay tuned!" Previously, Yu Minhong responded that reports of New Oriental Group CEO Zhou Chenggang being investigated were completely false rumors, and East Buy also refuted these claims and reported them to authorities.
New stock Sinowafer Advanced Materials gained over 6% on its debut. The company's global offering included 47,745,700 H-shares at a final offering price of HK$42.80 per H-share, raising net proceeds of HK$1.938 billion. The Hong Kong public offering represented 35% of the global offering and was oversubscribed 2,809.19 times, while the international offering represented 65% and was oversubscribed 9.04 times.