The Zhitong Finance App learned that Hong Kong stocks once fell back to 2,3023 points after opening high today, then fluctuated higher, driven by AI hardware and innovative drugs. The increase narrowed at the end of the session, and the three major indices collectively closed higher. At the close, the Hang Seng Index rose 0.23% or 53.51 points to 23094.83 points, with a turnover of HK$181,428 billion; the Hang Seng State-owned Enterprises Index rose 0.32% to 7791.63 points; and the Hang Seng Technology Index rose 1.40% to 3853.72 points.
Zhang Yidong of Haitong International believes that policy disturbances and capital games will determine the downward pace, and will also dominate the rebound. The overseas core event window will focus on the next two weeks — the FOMC meeting on October 27-28, and the November 3 US midterm elections. If Asian deleveraging comes to an end and the financial reports of major technology companies at the end of the month meet expectations, the market will have the conditions for a phased rebound.
Blue-chip stock performance
Lenovo Group (00992) performed brilliantly. At the close, it rose 6.26% to HK$23.78, with a turnover of HK$2,674 billion. CITIC Securities released Lenovo Group's performance outlook report for the second fiscal quarter of the 2026/27 fiscal year, believing that despite growing market concerns about the continuation of AI capital investment and the risk of new cloud financing, demand for traditional servers and AI servers remains strong, and Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions Business Group (ISG) is expected to maintain a high level of prosperity.
In terms of other blue-chip stocks, Huahong Hongli (01347) rose 8.44% to HK$70; SMIC (00981) rose 5.43% to HK$47.8; Zijin Mining (02899) rose 3.47% to HK$28.64; and AIA (01299) fell 2.21% to HK$70.9.
Popular sector aspects
On the market, weighted technology stocks had mixed ups and downs. Alibaba rose 1.96% and Tencent Holdings rose 0.62%; AI hardware chains exploded, optical communications, PCBs and memory chips rose at the same time, and Zhongji Xuchuang and Jiantao laminates rose more than 8%; Innovative Pharmaceuticals and CXO rebounded with the three quarterly reports, and Hengrui Pharmaceuticals rose 10.82%; the physical AI concept represented by humanoid robots is once again strong. On the other side, New Oriental plummeted 7.33% before, making it the biggest decline among the Hang Seng Index constituent stocks; gaming stocks declined across the board; and utility stocks were weak.
Storage chips, optical communications, and PCB stocks exploded collectively. At the close, Junzheng shares (03223) rose 18.94% to HK$79.45; Zhaoyi Innovation (03986) rose 9.91% to HK$359.2; Lanqi Technology (06809) rose 9.20% to HK$230.2; Jiantao Laminate (01888) rose 8.28% to HK$40.3; and Zhongji Innotech (03308) rose 8.28% to HK$785.
The enthusiasm for AI trading was rekindled, compounded by SK Hynix's strongest quarterly report in history. The Asia-Pacific stock market continued overnight gains in US stocks on Wednesday. According to the financial report disclosed by SK Hynix on Wednesday, revenue for the third quarter was 104.62 trillion won, exceeding 100 trillion won for the first time in the history of a single quarter, up 32% month-on-month and 328% year-on-year; operating profit was 83.33 trillion won, up 38% month-on-month and 632% year-on-year. SK Hynix CEO said at the earnings conference that DRAM and HBM production capacity will almost be sold out in the next three years, and medium- to long-term sales visibility will increase dramatically.
Furthermore, the implementation of Anthropic's prospectus mitigated market uncertainty about the commercialization of AI and funding sources; at the same time, Meta's forward issuance of common shares was subscribed about 5 times, which also shows that high-quality technology leaders still have strong financing capabilities. On the domestic side, the PCB industry chain's net profit growth rate increased markedly in the third quarter, further verifying that demand for AI servers and the like is being transformed into profit. UBS believes that the profit growth of technology hardware is still strong, and the profit forecast for most AI technology stocks has increased by 12% to 15% in the past three months. But valuations are close to historic lows.
Pharmaceutical stocks rebounded strongly. At the close, Kingsley Biotech (01548) rose 11.21% to HK$36.7; Hengrui Pharmaceuticals (01276) rose 10.82% to HK$49.56; Kangfang Biotech (09926) rose 5.19% to HK$85.05; and Pharmaceutical Biotech (02269) rose 3.72% to HK$46.32.
Hengrui Pharmaceutical's third-quarter revenue was 8.953 billion yuan, up 20.55% year on year, and net profit to mother was 2,458 billion yuan, up 88.92% year on year, mainly confirming that BD revenue increased profit. In the first three quarters, the company's innovative drug licensing business confirmed revenue of 2,781 billion yuan, an increase of 31.12% over the previous year. Zhongtai Securities said that as ESMO data and the three-quarter report continue to be disclosed, the innovative drug sector is expected to further diversify around fundamentals. It is recommended to reduce short-term emotional turbulence and seize adjusted allocation opportunities for innovative drug leaders supported by differentiated Phase III data and BD cash flow, as well as CXO leaders with high visibility in order growth, delivery pace, and profit improvements.
Physical AI is getting stronger again. At the close, Qun Nuclear Technology (00068) rose 20.64% to HK$3.77; Premium Choice (09880) rose 9.16% to HK$69.1; Yuejiang (02432) rose 8.27% to HK$19.89; Hesai-W (02525) rose 7.75% to HK$13.9; and Zhaowei Electromechanical (02692) rose 7.69% to HK$35.
Recently, attention to physical AI has been rapidly heating up, and industrial events such as OpenAI, Nvidia GTC, and the Yushu Science and Technology Ecological Conference have jointly fueled the sector's market explosion. Huafu Securities pointed out that physical AI refers to the ability system for artificial intelligence to understand and act on the physical world. Its core is a world model, that is, the ability to predict how physical states evolve under operational intervention. Robots are the best carriers for physical AI: first, robots also have a closed loop of perception, decision making, execution, and feedback, and operation results can be observed, measured, and labeled; second, robots continuously generate interactive data in the real physical world, which is the only source for training and verifying world models; third, model capabilities must ultimately act on the physical world through the body to generate economic value.
Gaming stocks fell across the board. At the close, Wynn Macau (01128) fell 3.33% to HK$4.505; Melco International Development (00200) fell 2.71% to HK$2.33; MGM China (02282) fell 2.61% to HK$8.95; and Sands China (01928) fell 2.11% to HK$10.66.
According to Citigroup Research, Macau's gaming revenue for the first 25 days of October is expected to be around MOP 17.65 billion, an average of about MOP 592 million per day from October 20 to 25, 3% lower than the 613 million in October to 19, and 2% lower than the 602 million in September. The weakness continues, with a year-on-year decline of about 10% from October to today. The bank lowered its October gaming revenue forecast from MOP 23 billion to MOP 21.5 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 11%. UBS believes that the recent slowdown is due to low VIP room win rates and weak high-end demand, and it is expected that the base effect faced in November will remain severe.
Popular exotic stocks
Standard Chartered Group (02888) rallied in the afternoon. At the close, it was up 7.64% to HK$219.8.
Standard Chartered announced third-quarter results. Operating revenue increased 14% year over year to US$5.8 billion, and net interest income rose 9% year over year to US$3 billion, driven by trading volume and balance sheet portfolio optimization; profit before tax was US$2.3 billion, up 29% year on year. Standard Chartered raised its annual operating revenue growth guide to a higher than the original 5% to 7% range, and expects a return on tangible equity of about 14% for the whole year.
Sinotrans (00598) improved after its performance. At the close, it was up 8.56% to HK$4.63.
Sinotrans released its 2026 three-quarter report. The company achieved operating income of 71,987 billion yuan in the first three quarters, a year-on-year decrease of 4.07%; net profit to mother was 2,676 billion yuan, a decrease of 0.12% year-on-year. Among them, in the third quarter, the company's revenue was 25.53 billion yuan, up 4.2% year on year; net profit to mother was 951 million yuan, up 29.9% year on year.
The lifting of the ban on the Bama Tea Industry (06980) caused a serious setback. At the close, it fell 17.94% to HK$18.71.
The company has been listed for one year. The ban on 33.5165 million shares held by investors and current shareholders before the initial offering expires today, accounting for about 39.43% of the total number of issued shares. At one point, it fell by more than 25% during the intraday period, to a minimum of HK$16.81. The company was issued at HK$50 per share on October 28, 2025. Based on the closing price of HK$22.66 on October 23, early investors lost about 54.68%.
New Oriental-S (09901) accelerated its decline. At the close, it was down 7.33% to HK$42.76.
New Oriental saw the biggest decline among the constituent stocks of the Hang Seng Index today. According to the company's previous announcement, the board of directors will announce the results for the three months ending August 31, 2026 before the US market opens on October 28. The results conference call will be held today at 8 p.m. Hong Kong time.