The Hang Seng Index closed down 2.12%, and technology and auto stocks were under pressure throughout the day, and Times China Holdings was once cut in half

Zhitong Financial APP learned that the monthly rate of retail sales in the United States in March exceeded expectations, and U.S. stocks closed down across the board overnight, with the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield once breaking through 4.66% to hit a new high this year, and the 2-year Treasury yield approaching 5%. Hong Kong stocks continued to weaken with the periphery, and the decline further expanded in the afternoon. At the close, the Hang Seng Index fell 2.12% or 351.49 points to 16,248.97 points, with a full-day turnover of HK$114.58 billion, the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index fell 1.92% to 5,743.78 points, and the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 3.04% to 3,337.85 points.

Zheshang International previously pointed out that in terms of funds, the US CPI data exceeded market expectations, and the expectation of further interest rate cuts and soaring US bond yields further put pressure on the capital environment of the Hong Kong stock market. Huatai Securities said that historically, the value of dividends is usually relatively advantageous when the market risk appetite is sluggish, and the current dividend assets may have an advantage considering the fluctuating period of risk appetite in April or throughout the year.

Blue chip performance

PetroChina (00857) brushed a new high. As of the close, it rose 0.67% to HK$7.53, with a turnover of HK$2.088 billion, contributing 1.65 points to the Hang Seng Index. BofA Securities pointed out that it maintains a "buy" rating on PetroChina, based on oil and natural gas growth to support stable earnings, attractive valuation of 0.8 times price-to-book ratio, 7% high dividend and potential surprise capital management action plan, and a target price of HK$9.

Blue chips were almost wiped out today, with Sunny Optical Technology (02382) down 6.43% at HK$37.1, dragging down the Hang Seng Index by 2.88 points, Sands China (01928) down 5.97% at HK$19.7, dragging down the Hang Seng Index by 5.55 points, Xinyi Solar (00968) down 5.25% at HK$5.6, dragging down the Hang Seng Index by 2.35 points, and China Shenhua (01088) up 0.15% at HK$32.75, contributing 0.26 points to the Hang Seng Index.

In terms of popular sectors

On the market, large technology stocks are under pressure across the board; Tesla plans to lay off employees globally, the price war in the auto market is intensifying, auto stocks are collectively falling, and new car-making forces are leading the decline; iPhone sales fell by nearly 10% in the first quarter, and Apple concept stocks continued to fall; gaming stocks, catering stocks, pharmaceutical stocks, photovoltaic stocks, non-ferrous stocks, etc. all performed sluggishly. On the other hand, some domestic real estate stocks rose in the afternoon, with CIFI Holding Group soaring nearly 24% at one point, and some coal stocks and oil stocks bucking the trend.

1. Auto stocks fell en masse. At the close, Xpeng Motors-W (09868) fell 5.63% to HK$27.65, Li Auto-W (02015) fell 4.91% to HK$110.5 and Great Wall Motor (02333) fell 4.7% to HK$10.96.

According to incomplete statistics, as soon as April began, more than 10 brands launched preferential activities one after another. Cui Dongshu, Secretary-General of the Passenger Association, recently issued a document pointing out that the scale of price reductions in the first quarter of 2024 has exceeded 6% of the whole year of 2023, which is equivalent to the total scale of price reductions in 2022. He said that the price war on the short-term sales promotion effect is not obvious, especially in the case of price instability, the consumer wait-and-see sentiment is particularly strong, which brings certain pressure to the sales of the auto market in the short term.

In addition, Tesla plans to lay off 10% of its workforce globally in response to declining sales and an intensifying price war in the auto market. Affected by this, Tesla's stock price fell by more than 5% overnight, and its market value evaporated to 30.4 billion US dollars, equivalent to about 220 billion yuan. Tesla's previously released delivery data for the first quarter of 2024 showed that in the first quarter of this year, Tesla produced a total of 433,400 electric vehicles worldwide, with 386,800 deliveries, all lower than Wall Street expectations.

2. Apple concept stocks continue to move lower. At the close, Sunny Optical Technology (02382) fell 6.43% to HK$37.1, Q Technology (01478) fell 5.17% to HK$3.12, and Gao Wei Electronics (01415) fell 4.05% to HK$16.12.

According to IDC data, global smartphone shipments increased by 7.8% year-on-year in the first quarter, achieving three consecutive quarters of shipment growth. However, Apple's decline in iPhone market share in China has directly affected the company's overall global shipments. According to the report, Apple's smartphone iPhone shipments in the first quarter were 50.1 million units, down 9.6% from 55.4 million units in the same period last year. In addition, Zhu Jiatao, a senior analyst at research institute Canalys, said that the first half of the year was Apple's sales off-season, and the sales situation in the first quarter was not ideal, and it is expected that the challenge in the second quarter will be greater, and the year-on-year sales will also decline.

3. Gaming stocks were among the top losers. At the close, SJM Holdings (00880) fell 6.76% to HK$2.62, Sands China (01928) fell 5.97% to HK$19.7 and Melco International Development (00200) fell 5.46% to HK$5.19.

Citi released a report to understand through industry channels that Macau's total gaming revenue in the first 14 days of April may reach 8.3 billion patacas (the same below), which means that the average daily gaming revenue during the period is about 586 million yuan. Compared with the average daily income of 600 million yuan in the first 7 days of April, it was about 2% lower. In addition, Citi also quoted industry sources to understand that the Macau VIP room betting volume fell by 6% to 7% month-on-month, while the mass market betting volume fell by 4% to 5% month-on-month, and the VIP room win rate may be lower than the normal level. As a result, the bank kept its forecast of Macau's Q&P forecast unchanged at MOP18.5 billion for April this year, implying an average GGR forecast of about MOP638 million per day for the rest of the month.

4. Individual domestic real estate stocks rose in the afternoon. At the close, CIFI Holdings Group (00884) rose 4.5% to HK$0.232, Sunac China (01918) rose 4.35% to HK$0.96, and Sino-Ocean Group (03377) rose 4% to HK$0.26.

The deputy director of the National Bureau of Statistics said at a press conference held by the State Council Information Office today that the current effect of China's real estate stable development policy measures is still emerging, and there are still supporting conditions for the sustainable and healthy development of the real estate market in the future. He pointed out that from the data, the real estate "three major projects" effectively drove real estate investment by 0.6 percentage points; in addition, this year, the relevant departments launched the "white list" financing project support policy, from the first quarter data, the decline in real estate domestic enterprise loans narrowed by 1.2 percentage points, which is directly related to the "white list" financing policy landing. Judging from the sales data, the area and value of real estate sales in March this year narrowed by 1.1 and 1.7 percentage points respectively compared with the decline from January to February.

Popular abnormal stocks

1. Chenming Paper (01812) rose after the results, up 8.59% to HK$1.77 as of the close.

Chenming Paper announced its results for the first quarter of 2024, with an operating income of about 6.762 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.84%, and a net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies of about 58.1962 million yuan, a year-on-year turnaround. Mainly due to the year-on-year decrease in the prices of major raw materials and energy during the period, the year-on-year increase in pulp and paper production and sales, and the enhancement of the company's profitability.

2. XD Company (02400) rose significantly, up 5.35% to HK$14.96 as of the close.

According to TapTap, XD's self-developed and placed RPG "Let's Go Muffin" national server will be deleted and paid for testing from April 16th to April 26th. In addition, according to the App Store, the game is expected to be officially launched on May 15. According to Diandian's data, the turnover of the game exceeded 20.12 million US dollars in March, ranking first in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

3. Times China Holdings (01233) once halved, as of the close, down 36.97% to HK$0.15.

Times China Holdings announced that Hang Seng Bank Limited (the petitioner) yesterday filed a winding-up petition against the company in the High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, regarding the alleged financial obligations of the company in the amounts of about US$173.2 million (about HK$1.35 billion) and HK$731.4 million respectively. The High Court has fixed the first hearing date for the petition as July 3.

4. Samsonite (01910) fell in the afternoon, as of the close, down 4.3% to HK$27.8.

There have been reports that private equity firms' interest in Samsonite's acquisition is waning after assessing the overpriced acquisition price, clearing the way for the luggage maker's dual listing. While potential acquirers could restart privatization deals, such plans have been put on hold, people familiar with the matter said.