[ET Net News Agency, 17 August 2026] US economic data has successively weakened, and current market expectations for a September rate cut of 25 basis points are below 30%, which favours the performance of Hong Kong shares. During the session, SMIC (00981) performed strongly. Before China released several key economic data points, the HSI closed the half-day at 25,521, up 405 points or 1.6%, holding above the 20-day moving average (around 25,515), though the 10-day moving average (around 25,603) still forms a new layer of resistance above. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index closed at 8470, up 129 points or 1.5%. The Hang Seng TECH Index closed at 4,802, up 94 points or 2%. Main board turnover for the half-day exceeded HKD 1,182 billion.
"Mak Ka Ka: Tech Stock Earnings Need "More Surprise"
Today, a range of tech stocks also saw a rebound, driving the broader market up by over 400 points for the half-day. Mak Ka Ka, Head of Financial Products Trading and Research Department of SinoPac Securities (Asia), told ET Net News Agency that the recent market bottom is around the 25,000 to 25,200 points level, with immediate resistance around 25,700 points, and the biggest psychological barrier remaining at 26,000 points. She pointed out that funds have recently shown a tendency to flow back into Mainland China tech stocks. Earlier, the market or institutional investors had relatively low weightings in Mainland China tech stocks, and during recent asset allocation readjustments, funds have concentrated on flowing into tech stocks, meaning share prices within the sector are expected to find a certain level of support in the short term. For instance, Alibaba (09988) has recent share price support around HKD 119.
This week, tech stocks such as Baidu (09888), Xiaomi (01810), Kuaishou (01024), and Alibaba (09888) will continue to release their earnings. Mak Ka Ka stated that the market generally has high positive expectations for Alibaba, but as the news was already speculated upon ahead of the earnings release, funds had already deployed early. If the earnings do not feature greater surprises, funds might lock in profits while prices are high, resulting in "selling on the news" instead. Therefore, to further drive the broader market, earnings need to significantly exceed market expectations. Mak Ka Ka stated that the market is most focused on Alibaba's AI cloud business growth and profitability, especially the monetisation capability of the AI business, which is crucial.
"SenseTime's Profile Has Been Surpassed by Up-and-Coming AI Enterprises"
SenseTime (00020) issued a positive profit alert yesterday (16 Aug), expecting interim profit for the six months ended 30 June to be around RMB 500 million to 700 million, compared to a loss of around RMB 1.48 billion in the same period last year, marking its first-ever recorded profit since listing. Meanwhile, the adjusted net loss is expected to decrease by 60% to 70% compared to the adjusted net loss of the first half of last year. Benefiting from the positive news, SenseTime surged 10.7% by midday to close at HKD 1.555.
Additionally, according to Bloomberg reports, Anthropic's preliminary second-quarter revenue exceeded USD 11.5 billion, an annual increase of at least 13 times, with adjusted operating profit turning positive.
Mak Ka Ka stated that the AI theme has been trending for a while, and even with significant positive news from Anthropic, it is difficult for a single enterprise's positive profit alert to drive the entire sector again. Furthermore, as the core businesses of mainstream AI enterprises have already diverged, future funding is expected to lean towards flowing into quality individual stocks rather than benefiting the entire sector. Regarding SenseTime, Mak Ka Ka believes that although recording its first profit this time and significantly reducing its adjusted net loss is good news, its business monetisation capability still needs to be watched by the market. In addition, SenseTime's business is relatively scattered, and some AI businesses lack stable financing channels, making them relatively reliant on external funds, about which the market remains cautious.
Furthermore, SenseTime's market capitalisation has been surpassed by emerging AI companies such as MiniMax, reflecting that its second growth curve and long-term valuation still require further validation. Therefore, SenseTime may enjoy a technical rebound in the short term driven by improving earnings, but the sustainability will be limited, leaning more towards short-term speculative trading, and it will ultimately return to the market's view on the divergence of AI enterprises.
Mak Ka Ka believes SenseTime's share price is poised to challenge HKD 1.6, though whether it can climb further remains unknown; downside support lies at the 20-day moving average, around the HKD 1.4 level.
"Mak Ka Ka: Tech Stock Earnings Need "More Surprise"
Today, a range of tech stocks also saw a rebound, driving the broader market up by over 400 points for the half-day. Mak Ka Ka, Head of Financial Products Trading and Research Department of SinoPac Securities (Asia), told ET Net News Agency that the recent market bottom is around the 25,000 to 25,200 points level, with immediate resistance around 25,700 points, and the biggest psychological barrier remaining at 26,000 points. She pointed out that funds have recently shown a tendency to flow back into Mainland China tech stocks. Earlier, the market or institutional investors had relatively low weightings in Mainland China tech stocks, and during recent asset allocation readjustments, funds have concentrated on flowing into tech stocks, meaning share prices within the sector are expected to find a certain level of support in the short term. For instance, Alibaba (09988) has recent share price support around HKD 119.
This week, tech stocks such as Baidu (09888), Xiaomi (01810), Kuaishou (01024), and Alibaba (09888) will continue to release their earnings. Mak Ka Ka stated that the market generally has high positive expectations for Alibaba, but as the news was already speculated upon ahead of the earnings release, funds had already deployed early. If the earnings do not feature greater surprises, funds might lock in profits while prices are high, resulting in "selling on the news" instead. Therefore, to further drive the broader market, earnings need to significantly exceed market expectations. Mak Ka Ka stated that the market is most focused on Alibaba's AI cloud business growth and profitability, especially the monetisation capability of the AI business, which is crucial.
"SenseTime's Profile Has Been Surpassed by Up-and-Coming AI Enterprises"
SenseTime (00020) issued a positive profit alert yesterday (16 Aug), expecting interim profit for the six months ended 30 June to be around RMB 500 million to 700 million, compared to a loss of around RMB 1.48 billion in the same period last year, marking its first-ever recorded profit since listing. Meanwhile, the adjusted net loss is expected to decrease by 60% to 70% compared to the adjusted net loss of the first half of last year. Benefiting from the positive news, SenseTime surged 10.7% by midday to close at HKD 1.555.
Additionally, according to Bloomberg reports, Anthropic's preliminary second-quarter revenue exceeded USD 11.5 billion, an annual increase of at least 13 times, with adjusted operating profit turning positive.
Mak Ka Ka stated that the AI theme has been trending for a while, and even with significant positive news from Anthropic, it is difficult for a single enterprise's positive profit alert to drive the entire sector again. Furthermore, as the core businesses of mainstream AI enterprises have already diverged, future funding is expected to lean towards flowing into quality individual stocks rather than benefiting the entire sector. Regarding SenseTime, Mak Ka Ka believes that although recording its first profit this time and significantly reducing its adjusted net loss is good news, its business monetisation capability still needs to be watched by the market. In addition, SenseTime's business is relatively scattered, and some AI businesses lack stable financing channels, making them relatively reliant on external funds, about which the market remains cautious.
Furthermore, SenseTime's market capitalisation has been surpassed by emerging AI companies such as MiniMax, reflecting that its second growth curve and long-term valuation still require further validation. Therefore, SenseTime may enjoy a technical rebound in the short term driven by improving earnings, but the sustainability will be limited, leaning more towards short-term speculative trading, and it will ultimately return to the market's view on the divergence of AI enterprises.
Mak Ka Ka believes SenseTime's share price is poised to challenge HKD 1.6, though whether it can climb further remains unknown; downside support lies at the 20-day moving average, around the HKD 1.4 level.
