Hong Kong stocks closed (08.18) | The Hang Seng Index closed up 0.07%, pork, oil and gas, pharmaceutical stocks, etc. rose higher and Alibaba-W (09988) rebounded the market and rose more than 3%

The Zhitong Finance App learned that the three major indices of Hong Kong stocks fell under pressure in early trading. The Hengke Index once fell more than 2%, while the Hang Seng Index and China Index successfully turned red. At the close, the Hang Seng Index rose 0.07% or 17.92 points to 25471.15 points, with a full day turnover of HK$255.541 billion; the Hang Seng State-owned Enterprises Index rose 0.16% to 8453.2 points; and the Hang Seng Technology Index fell 0.9% to 4739.18 points.

Guoyuan International believes that domestic fundamentals, profit expectations, and incremental capital are becoming more important pricing variables. Therefore, the bank still uses “the index remains volatile, and structural opportunities are the main focus” as the current benchmark situation. The trend rise still needs to wait for improvements in domestic demand and profits, as well as further inflows of southbound and foreign capital.

Blue-chip stock performance

Alibaba-W (09988) rallied in the afternoon. At the close, it rose 3.68% to HK$126.7, with a turnover of HK$15.107 billion. Contributed 71.6 points. The Damo Research Report dismantles the three major monetization paths in the Chinese cloud market: the return on investment capital (ROIC) of domestic cloud vendors is 13%-20%. Although suppressed by high hardware costs, there is huge room for upward momentum as inference demand explodes. With infrastructure and model advantages, Ali was bullish by 45%, and the MaaS model with high profit margins will become a valuation breakthrough engine.

In terms of other blue-chip stocks, Yao Ming Biotech (02269) rose 5.24% to HK$48.58, contributing 14.54 points to the Hang Seng Index; Jitu Express - W (01519) rose 4.83% to HK$10.3, contributing 4.18 points to the Hang Seng Index; China Life Insurance (02628) fell 3.93% to HK$26.88, dragging down the Hang Seng Index by 12.51 points; Luoyang Molybdenum (03993) fell 3.12% to HK$17.09, dragging down the Hang Seng Index by 3.17 points.

Popular sector aspects

On the market, most of the large science network stocks are turning green. Alibaba has risen by more than 3% against the market; pig prices have recently risen, and Muyuan shares have risen by more than 4%; the CRO concept has risen again, AIDD catalyzes strong life science business growth, and Kingsley Biotech has risen more than 8%; Yushu Technology is about to go public, and the robot concept is active; oil and gas stocks, animal husbandry stocks, and some domestic housing stocks are improving. On the other side, technology stocks such as storage concepts, PCB concepts, and semiconductors had the highest declines.

The pork concept had the highest increase. At the close, Muyuan shares (02714) rose 4.56% to HK$34.84; COFCO Jiajiakang (01610) rose 4.09% to HK$1.145; and Dekang Agriculture and Animal Husbandry (02419) rose 3.72% to HK$53.

The domestic pig market continues to rise strongly. The latest average price has reached 10.86 yuan/kg, up 4.22% from week to week. Pig prices in Hubei, Jiangxi, Beijing and other places have broken through the 11 yuan/kg mark. According to the SDIC Securities Research Report, the low-price region of Sichuan and Chongqing led the rise. Recently, pig prices have risen steadily, and pig prices in the Sichuan and Chongqing regions have rebounded steadily, which may reflect that the pressure on pig supply in the Sichuan and Chongqing regions may have clearly eased. Great Wall Securities pointed out that it is recommended to focus on leading pig companies with leading costs and steady cash flow, as well as layout opportunities for cycle reversal as production capacity is removed and deepened.

Robotics concepts are mostly rising. At the close, Eston (02715) rose 8.43% to HK$20.7; Xiankong Intelligence (06106) rose 6.57% to HK$72.2; Sanhua Intelligent Control (02050) rose 5.11% to HK$28.38; and Laifu Harmonics (03952) rose 2.29% to HK$71.5.

Yushu Technology will officially land on the Science and Technology Innovation Board on August 19. The current issue price is 150.8 yuan/share, and the market value at the time of listing is about 60.993 billion yuan. Market analysis indicates that as the first stock listed for A-share humanoid robots, its listing is seen as a key turning point for China's physical intelligence industry from technology accumulation to large-scale commercialization, providing a clear valuation anchor for subsequent companies such as Zhiyuan and Leju. At the same time, as the chain owner, Yushu is expected to drive the upgrading of core supply chain technology such as domestic motors, sensors, and speed reducers, and build independent and efficient industrial barriers.

Oil and gas stocks were active. At the close, CNOOC Services (02883) rose 5.08% to HK$7.34; CNPC (00857) rose 2.51% to HK$9.805; and CNOOC (00883) rose 2.09% to HK$24.42.

The temporary cease-fire agreement signed between the US and Iran in June expired on Monday. US President Trump said he would not extend the agreement. A senior Iranian official said that if diplomatic efforts fail to reach a permanent arrangement, Iran will shift to an “all-out attack” military stance and prepare to act on the US military naval blockade. Furthermore, the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Energy Administration issued the “Fifteenth Five-Year Plan for Oil and Gas Development”. In 2030, the domestic oil and gas supply will be 440 million tons of oil equivalent, adding 20,000 kilometers of long-distance oil and gas pipelines, and the scale of the national oil and gas long-distance pipeline network will reach 220,000 kilometers.

Popular exotic stocks

Superstar Legends (06683) has skyrocketed in volume. At the close, it was up 34.88% to HK$5.8.

In July 2025, Superstar Legend announced that it will cooperate with Yushu Technology in the development of four-legged robot dogs and robots to jointly create consumer robot products with IP attributes. In November of the same year, Superstar Legend announced again that its subsidiary Star Creative Arts would establish a joint venture with Yushu Technology's subsidiary “Yuxing Entertainment”, and that both parties would each hold 50% of the shares.

Zhou Shengsheng (00116) is happy. At the close, it was up 19.14% to HK$14.38.

Chow Sang Sang Sang expects profit attributable to owners of continuing businesses to record between HK$2.1 billion and HK$2.2 billion in the first half of the year, compared to HK$910 million for the same period in 2025. Mainly due to the improved sales performance of the retail business segment in major markets; precious metals lending recorded unrealized income based on market value revaluation.

Huazhu Group-S (01179) was strong throughout the day. At the close, it was up 11.08% to HK$36.3.

Huazhu Group announced unaudited results for the second quarter and interim period of 2026. Revenue for the second quarter was 7.121 billion yuan, up 10.8% year on year; net profit attributable to Huazhu Group was about 1.6 billion yuan, up 2.1% year on year. Huazhu raised its annual guidance and expects the Group's revenue to grow by 4% to 8%, compared to 2% to 6% previously.

Gaowei Electronics (01415) moved higher after the results. At the close, it was up 8.01 percent to HK$24.8.

Gaowei Electronics announced that revenue for the first half of the year was approximately US$1,605 million, up 18.0% year on year; net profit attributable to equity shareholders of the company was approximately US$898.74 million, up 33.3% year on year. The increase in performance was mainly due to increased customer demand, increased shipments of high-end products, and continuous optimization of the product portfolio.

Kingsley Biotech (01548) continued its upward trend. At the close, it was up 8.36% to HK$28.26.

Kingsley Biotech's revenue for the first half of the year was about US$404 million, up 27.3% year on year; net loss to mother was US$129 million, narrowing year on year; adjusted net profit was about US$62.5 million, up 203.3% year on year. CICC pointed out that Kingsley's performance exceeded expectations, mainly due to AIDD catalysing strong life science business growth and improved operating efficiency.