[ET Net News Agency, 21 May 2026] With Middle East geopolitical tensions expected to ease, international oil prices and US Treasury yields both pulled back. Coupled with Nvidia's positive post-market quarterly results in the US, Asia-Pacific stock markets all performed well. However, Hong Kong stocks lack hot semiconductor concept shares, making it difficult to benefit from this round of the semiconductor boom, and old tech stocks were even sold off because of this. The HSI erased all its gains in the half-day session, reversing to drop 2 points to close at 25,648, just 26 points away from falling below the 250-day moving average (around 25,822), commonly known as the bull-bear line. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index reported 8,574, down 30 points or 0.4%. The Hang Seng Tech Index reported 4862, down 11 points or 0.2%. Half-day main board turnover neared HKD 150.9 billion, while southbound net inflow was around HKD 1.5 billion.
"Mak Ka Ka: HSI fluctuates within a narrow range; market remains conservative and watchful"
A glimmer of hope has appeared for a US-Iran reconciliation. US President Trump stated that handling the Iran issue has entered its final stage, but sanctions against Iran will remain in place until a peace agreement is reached. With the Middle East situation expected to ease, international oil prices and US Treasury yields pulled back slightly, with Brent crude futures returning to the USD 100 level. The 10-year US Treasury yield hovered before the 4.6% mark, while the 30-year US Treasury yield fell back to the 5.12% level.
Mak Ka Ka, Head of Financial Products Trading and Research Department of SinoPac Securities (Asia), told ET Net News Agency that rising long-term bond yields would increase the US's bond interest costs. It also reflects that before the bond maturity dates, the market requires greater returns to offset long-term economic instability in the US. She continued that the 30-year US Treasury yield rising above 5% and the 10-year rising above 4.6% had touched Trump's warning line, forcing the US to soften its stance in handling US-Iran relations to alleviate potential economic problems.
However, Mak stated that because bond yields have not yet clearly fallen back below the warning line, the market cannot fully believe that the risks have been cleared, and currently maintains a primarily wait-and-see attitude. She believes the HSI has recently found support above the bull-bear line, with overhead resistance at the 26000 level. But since the external economic conditions are not yet clear, it is difficult for the HSI to have a strong rebound.
Mak added that capital currently tends to flow towards shares with stronger defensiveness, stable cash flow, and high dividends, while high-valuation tech stocks are dragged down by valuation re-rating pressures brought by rising bond yields, which limits the aggressiveness of capital. She also suggested that recent deployments should focus mainly on defensive strategies.
"Smart driving market still in early commercialisation stage; suitable for short-term deployment"
Tesla posted on social media X today, listing the countries where the supervised version of FSD (Full Self-Driving) has been launched, including China. This is the first time Tesla has officially announced the launch of FSD functions in Mainland China.
Following the news, smart driving concept stocks performed well across the board today. Uisee Tech (01511) is currently up over 7%; WeRide (00800) surged nearly 9%; Minieye (02431) rose 3%.
Mak believes that the Mainland China smart driving market has large medium-to-long term development potential. Upstream sensors and computing chips are relatively mature, some midstream enterprises are starting to explore fee models, and downstream applications like robotaxis have begun small-scale commercial implementations in pilot areas. However, she stated that the market is still in its early commercialisation stage, the actual profits it can bring are limited, and the market has concerns over its profit commercialisation.
Mak stated that the smart driving industry currently relies on government support to drive development, driven mainly by policies and events, making the overall sector highly volatile. At the same time, because the fundamentals of shares within the sector are relatively inferior, it is harder to support long-term share price rises, and long-term holding risks are higher. Therefore, it is currently only suitable for short-term speculative operations. She reminded that when trading shares in this sector, investors should control their position sizes and remember to lock in profits while making gains.
"Mak Ka Ka: HSI fluctuates within a narrow range; market remains conservative and watchful"
A glimmer of hope has appeared for a US-Iran reconciliation. US President Trump stated that handling the Iran issue has entered its final stage, but sanctions against Iran will remain in place until a peace agreement is reached. With the Middle East situation expected to ease, international oil prices and US Treasury yields pulled back slightly, with Brent crude futures returning to the USD 100 level. The 10-year US Treasury yield hovered before the 4.6% mark, while the 30-year US Treasury yield fell back to the 5.12% level.
Mak Ka Ka, Head of Financial Products Trading and Research Department of SinoPac Securities (Asia), told ET Net News Agency that rising long-term bond yields would increase the US's bond interest costs. It also reflects that before the bond maturity dates, the market requires greater returns to offset long-term economic instability in the US. She continued that the 30-year US Treasury yield rising above 5% and the 10-year rising above 4.6% had touched Trump's warning line, forcing the US to soften its stance in handling US-Iran relations to alleviate potential economic problems.
However, Mak stated that because bond yields have not yet clearly fallen back below the warning line, the market cannot fully believe that the risks have been cleared, and currently maintains a primarily wait-and-see attitude. She believes the HSI has recently found support above the bull-bear line, with overhead resistance at the 26000 level. But since the external economic conditions are not yet clear, it is difficult for the HSI to have a strong rebound.
Mak added that capital currently tends to flow towards shares with stronger defensiveness, stable cash flow, and high dividends, while high-valuation tech stocks are dragged down by valuation re-rating pressures brought by rising bond yields, which limits the aggressiveness of capital. She also suggested that recent deployments should focus mainly on defensive strategies.
"Smart driving market still in early commercialisation stage; suitable for short-term deployment"
Tesla posted on social media X today, listing the countries where the supervised version of FSD (Full Self-Driving) has been launched, including China. This is the first time Tesla has officially announced the launch of FSD functions in Mainland China.
Following the news, smart driving concept stocks performed well across the board today. Uisee Tech (01511) is currently up over 7%; WeRide (00800) surged nearly 9%; Minieye (02431) rose 3%.
Mak believes that the Mainland China smart driving market has large medium-to-long term development potential. Upstream sensors and computing chips are relatively mature, some midstream enterprises are starting to explore fee models, and downstream applications like robotaxis have begun small-scale commercial implementations in pilot areas. However, she stated that the market is still in its early commercialisation stage, the actual profits it can bring are limited, and the market has concerns over its profit commercialisation.
Mak stated that the smart driving industry currently relies on government support to drive development, driven mainly by policies and events, making the overall sector highly volatile. At the same time, because the fundamentals of shares within the sector are relatively inferior, it is harder to support long-term share price rises, and long-term holding risks are higher. Therefore, it is currently only suitable for short-term speculative operations. She reminded that when trading shares in this sector, investors should control their position sizes and remember to lock in profits while making gains.
