Mei Ri Jing Ji Xin Wen·2025-08-21 12:39Market Overview - On August 20, Hong Kong's three major indices opened lower but closed higher, with the Hang Seng Index rising by 0.17% to 25,165.94 points, the Hang Seng Tech Index falling by 0.01% to 5,541.27 points, and the National Enterprises Index increasing by 0.08% to 9,013.27 points [1] - Notable stocks included Kuaishou down nearly 3%, Alibaba down over 0.5%, SMIC up nearly 3.5%, and Pop Mart surging 12.54% to a price of 316 HKD, achieving a total market capitalization of 424.4 billion HKD, a new historical high [1] Southbound Capital - On August 20, southbound capital recorded a net outflow of 14.682 billion HKD; year-to-date, the cumulative net inflow has reached 944.199 billion HKD, significantly exceeding last year's total net inflow [2] U.S. Market Performance - Overnight, U.S. stock indices closed mixed, with the Dow Jones up 0.04%, the S&P 500 down 0.24%, and the Nasdaq down 0.67%. Notable gainers included Travelers Group up over 2% and Walmart up over 1% [2] - Chinese concept stocks showed mixed performance, with Newegg up over 23% and Xunlei down over 7% [2] Key Messages 1. The Federal Reserve's July meeting minutes revealed that nearly all decision-makers supported not lowering interest rates, with dissent from two voting members, marking the first such occurrence since 1993. Most officials emphasized inflation risks over labor market concerns [3] 2. Baidu reported its Q2 2025 earnings, showing total revenue of 32.7 billion CNY, a year-on-year decline of 4%. Net profit attributable to Baidu was 7.3 billion CNY, a year-on-year increase of 33%, while adjusted net profit was 4.8 billion CNY, down 35% year-on-year. AI new business revenue reached 10 billion CNY, up 34% year-on-year [3] 3. At the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's mid-year performance meeting, discussions on extending trading hours were noted, with plans to study the implementation of a 24-hour trading mechanism by 2026, pending system upgrades and regulatory framework improvements [3] Short Selling Data - On August 20, a total of 637 Hong Kong stocks were short-sold, with total short-selling amounting to 30.36 billion HKD. The top three stocks by short-selling amount were Xiaomi Group at 2.084 billion HKD, Tencent Holdings at 1.612 billion HKD, and Pop Mart at 1.11 billion HKD [3] Institutional Views - According to the latest strategy from China Merchants Securities, there is an optimistic outlook for the Hong Kong stock market, with mid-year earnings showing improvement and a high earnings forecast rate. The report suggests focusing on sectors that differ from A-shares, starting with innovative drugs, followed by the internet, and finally new consumption [4] - The report also indicates that recent market disturbances related to "exchange rate pressure—liquidity tightening—Hibor rising" have subsided, suggesting that Hong Kong stocks may experience a phase of liquidity tightening [4]