[ET Net News Agency, 25 March 2024] The Hang Seng Index reported 16,578 in the morning
session, up 79 points or 0.5%, with a total turnover of nearly HKD 62 billion. The Hang
Seng China Enterprises Index reported 5,798, up 40 points or 0.7%. The Hang Seng Tech
Index reported 3,465, up 9 points or 0.3%.
The top three traded stocks on the HSI were Meituan (03690), Tencent (00700), and
Alibaba (09988). Meituan closed at HKD 95.9, up HKD 7.65 or 8.7%, with a turnover of HKD
5.773 billion. Tencent closed at HKD 289.8, up HKD 1 or 0.3%, with a turnover of HKD 3.111
billion. Alibaba closed at HKD 70.1, down HKD 0.9 or 1.3%, with a turnover of HKD 1.273
billion. The top three traded stocks on the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index and the Hang
Seng Tech Index were Meituan, Tencent, and Alibaba.

"Nip Chun Pong: Mainland China retail market shows signs of improvement, Hong Kong stock
market remains optimistic in the second quarter"

The Hong Kong stock market continues to lack speculative material, relying only on
better-than-expected performance from Meituan (03690) to drive the Hang Seng Index up by
approximately 100 points in the first half of the day. Nip Chun Pong, the Chief Strategist
at Blackwell Global Asset Management, told ET Net News Agency that the recent trading
performance of the Hong Kong stock market has been fluctuating. Although the market
turnover exceeded 100 billion on Thursday and Friday last week, it was below that level
earlier. As a result, there hasn't been a reliable upward indicator, and it is expected
that the market will trade within a narrow range of 16,200 to 16,800 points in the near
term.
While it is true that the market tends to retreat when there is no progress, Nip Chun
Pong made it clear that he is not overly pessimistic at the moment. In terms of economic
data, the Mainland China's CPI growth rate accelerated in February, and the market
anticipates a recovery in the retail market. Therefore, there is no concern about funds
turning bearish after the end of the quarter.

"Meituan is expected to face significant resistance at HKD 110"

Meituan (03690) announced a turnaround in its net profit for the fourth quarter of last
year, recording a profit of RMB 2.217 billion, and an adjusted net profit of RMB 4.375
billion, a significant increase of 4.28 times compared to the expected RMB 2.899 billion.
The strong performance drove the stock price up by over 9% during the first half of the
day, surpassing the previous November bottom.
Nip Chun Pong pointed out that Meituan's fourth-quarter performance exceeded
expectations, with steady growth in its delivery business and surprising growth in online
marketing, which increased by about 20% year-on-year. This reflects Meituan's exploration
of new growth engines. Looking ahead to future performance, the anticipation of the
Chinese New Year sales is expected to drive the company's first-quarter performance. It is
initially estimated that Meituan has a good chance of surpassing HKD 100 again, but
breaking through the HKD 110 level, which is close to the 250-day moving average, will be
more challenging.

"Possibility of ending the community e-commerce business remains low"

Earlier, there were reports suggesting that Meituan might end its community e-commerce
business due to difficulties. Chairman and CEO Wang Xing openly acknowledged that the
situation in community e-commerce was even more challenging than expected. The company has
adjusted its strategy, and there have been initial signs of improvement. Meituan Select's
losses have narrowed on a yearly basis, and this trend is expected to continue throughout
the year. Nip Chun Pong pointed out that developing new business takes time, and if there
are no new business opportunities, the possibility of ending the community e-commerce
business temporarily remains low.