[ET Net News Agency, 27 May 2026] Capital is once again chasing the highly speculated chip sector, with memory chips rallying collectively overnight and Micron's share price surging by nearly 20%. This morning, Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese stocks all recorded significant gains. However, Hong Kong stocks, which have a low proportion of hardware shares, were not invited to the "carnival party". During the session, they even followed A-shares lower, with the HSI down 217 points, or 0.8%, to report 25,382 at midday. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index reported 8,489, down 87 points, or 1%. The Hang Seng Tech Index reported 4,935, down 11 points, or 0.2%. Main board turnover exceeded HKD 170.1 billion, with a southbound net inflow of HKD 1.6 billion.
"Nip Chun Pong: Illegal offshore stock trading may not affect the overall HSI trend"
As the market hopes for an eventual ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran, Wall Street chip stocks continued to be heavily speculated, driving the tech-heavy Nasdaq up by over 1%. Major Asia-Pacific stock markets in Japan, Korea and Taiwan maintained their strength this morning, with Korean stocks rising by nearly 5% during the session. Although chip-related stocks in Hong Kong benefited and rose against the market trend, they could not reverse the recent weakness of Hong Kong stocks. Nip Chun Pong, the Chief Strategist at Solo Securities, told ET Net News Agency that although the market anticipates an improvement in the Middle East situation and global stock markets are focusing on AI and chip stocks, Hong Kong stocks benefit relatively little in this regard. Although the heavyweight tech stocks in the HSI also dabble in AI and chips, their revenue contribution is not high, making it difficult for their share prices to be driven up. Meanwhile, the highly speculated second- and third-tier AI and chip stocks are not blue chips, so their share price gains have little impact on the index. Although some new AI darlings will be included as HSI tech components, taking effect next month, they will similarly fail to boost the HSI.
Nip Chun Pong believes that apart from being relatively inferior to Korean and Taiwanese stocks in terms of AI and chips, Hong Kong stocks are also being unfavourably affected by the recent strengthening of the US dollar and the weakening of the Renminbi, which have put pressure on Chinese corporate stock prices. In addition, Mainland China has recently cracked down on illegal offshore stock trading, which has affected market sentiment to some extent, even though this policy has little impact on the HSI's trend. Nip Chun Pong explained that Mainland China capital can buy and sell heavyweight stocks and more mainstream stocks through the southbound link, so only stocks that cannot be traded via the southbound link will be affected. By the same token, the new regulations also have a greater impact on the trading of semi-new stocks.
Nip Chun Pong pointed out that although there is currently no positive news to stimulate a major rally in Hong Kong stocks, there are similarly no negative factors seen pushing Hong Kong stocks further down. He suggested first observing whether the HSI finds support upon dropping to 25,200 points. However, Nip Chun Pong believes that unless the external situation deteriorates further, the chance of the HSI falling below 25,000 points is not high, while the upper resistance remains between 25,800 and 26,000 points.
"Consumption involution swaps price for volume, MINISO share price hits 1.5-year low"
MINISO (09896) recorded a net profit of RMB 1.25 billion for the first quarter, up 2 times year-on-year. During the period, revenue was RMB 5.688 billion, up 28.5%; adjusted net profit excluding exchange gains and losses was RMB 633 million, up 8.1%. Adjusted net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 552 million, down 5.9% year-on-year. As at 31/03 this year, the company's total number of stores reached 8,565, a net year-on-year increase of 797 stores. Among them, the MINISO brand accounted for 8,210 stores in total, an increase of 722 stores year-on-year; the TOP TOY brand accounted for 355 stores in total, an increase of 75 stores year-on-year.
Although Jack Ye, the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of MINISO, stated that the outstanding performance of the quarter fully validates a steadily improving development momentum, the group's share price came under pressure this morning. It plunged by as much as 7.7% during the session, giving up the HKD 24 level and hitting its lowest since September 2024. Nip Chun Pong stated that although MINISO's first-quarter revenue recorded relatively considerable year-on-year growth, the market is focusing more on its profitability. This is because revenue growth can be achieved through cheap promotional sales to meet growth targets, but behind sales growth is often an effect built upon sacrificing profitability, much like the price-cutting promotional methods of some electric vehicle companies. Therefore, while MINISO's first-quarter net profit growth looks good, after excluding non-recurring items, the group's adjusted profit declined year-on-year, triggering market concerns over its declining profit margins, making the pressure on its share price understandable.
Nip Chun Pong believes that as the halo of new consumer stocks gradually fades, coupled with the unsatisfactory first-quarter results, MINISO's share price is expected to remain under pressure. Nip Chun Pong mentioned that MINISO's share price had dropped to HKD 20 in September 2024 (before going ex-dividend), but the share price rebounded from that day's low to close back up at around HKD 25, which is equivalent to about HKD 23.5 after going ex-dividend. This is not far from today's low of HKD 23.96, making the current price relatively reasonable. However, capital is currently concentrated on speculating chip stocks, so the new consumption sector holds little attraction, and MINISO's share price is not expected to rebound easily. Nip Chun Pong also reminded that it cannot be ruled out that MINISO's share price will follow the broader market to test HKD 22 before finding initial support, and investors should remain cautious.
"Nip Chun Pong: Illegal offshore stock trading may not affect the overall HSI trend"
As the market hopes for an eventual ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran, Wall Street chip stocks continued to be heavily speculated, driving the tech-heavy Nasdaq up by over 1%. Major Asia-Pacific stock markets in Japan, Korea and Taiwan maintained their strength this morning, with Korean stocks rising by nearly 5% during the session. Although chip-related stocks in Hong Kong benefited and rose against the market trend, they could not reverse the recent weakness of Hong Kong stocks. Nip Chun Pong, the Chief Strategist at Solo Securities, told ET Net News Agency that although the market anticipates an improvement in the Middle East situation and global stock markets are focusing on AI and chip stocks, Hong Kong stocks benefit relatively little in this regard. Although the heavyweight tech stocks in the HSI also dabble in AI and chips, their revenue contribution is not high, making it difficult for their share prices to be driven up. Meanwhile, the highly speculated second- and third-tier AI and chip stocks are not blue chips, so their share price gains have little impact on the index. Although some new AI darlings will be included as HSI tech components, taking effect next month, they will similarly fail to boost the HSI.
Nip Chun Pong believes that apart from being relatively inferior to Korean and Taiwanese stocks in terms of AI and chips, Hong Kong stocks are also being unfavourably affected by the recent strengthening of the US dollar and the weakening of the Renminbi, which have put pressure on Chinese corporate stock prices. In addition, Mainland China has recently cracked down on illegal offshore stock trading, which has affected market sentiment to some extent, even though this policy has little impact on the HSI's trend. Nip Chun Pong explained that Mainland China capital can buy and sell heavyweight stocks and more mainstream stocks through the southbound link, so only stocks that cannot be traded via the southbound link will be affected. By the same token, the new regulations also have a greater impact on the trading of semi-new stocks.
Nip Chun Pong pointed out that although there is currently no positive news to stimulate a major rally in Hong Kong stocks, there are similarly no negative factors seen pushing Hong Kong stocks further down. He suggested first observing whether the HSI finds support upon dropping to 25,200 points. However, Nip Chun Pong believes that unless the external situation deteriorates further, the chance of the HSI falling below 25,000 points is not high, while the upper resistance remains between 25,800 and 26,000 points.
"Consumption involution swaps price for volume, MINISO share price hits 1.5-year low"
MINISO (09896) recorded a net profit of RMB 1.25 billion for the first quarter, up 2 times year-on-year. During the period, revenue was RMB 5.688 billion, up 28.5%; adjusted net profit excluding exchange gains and losses was RMB 633 million, up 8.1%. Adjusted net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 552 million, down 5.9% year-on-year. As at 31/03 this year, the company's total number of stores reached 8,565, a net year-on-year increase of 797 stores. Among them, the MINISO brand accounted for 8,210 stores in total, an increase of 722 stores year-on-year; the TOP TOY brand accounted for 355 stores in total, an increase of 75 stores year-on-year.
Although Jack Ye, the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of MINISO, stated that the outstanding performance of the quarter fully validates a steadily improving development momentum, the group's share price came under pressure this morning. It plunged by as much as 7.7% during the session, giving up the HKD 24 level and hitting its lowest since September 2024. Nip Chun Pong stated that although MINISO's first-quarter revenue recorded relatively considerable year-on-year growth, the market is focusing more on its profitability. This is because revenue growth can be achieved through cheap promotional sales to meet growth targets, but behind sales growth is often an effect built upon sacrificing profitability, much like the price-cutting promotional methods of some electric vehicle companies. Therefore, while MINISO's first-quarter net profit growth looks good, after excluding non-recurring items, the group's adjusted profit declined year-on-year, triggering market concerns over its declining profit margins, making the pressure on its share price understandable.
Nip Chun Pong believes that as the halo of new consumer stocks gradually fades, coupled with the unsatisfactory first-quarter results, MINISO's share price is expected to remain under pressure. Nip Chun Pong mentioned that MINISO's share price had dropped to HKD 20 in September 2024 (before going ex-dividend), but the share price rebounded from that day's low to close back up at around HKD 25, which is equivalent to about HKD 23.5 after going ex-dividend. This is not far from today's low of HKD 23.96, making the current price relatively reasonable. However, capital is currently concentrated on speculating chip stocks, so the new consumption sector holds little attraction, and MINISO's share price is not expected to rebound easily. Nip Chun Pong also reminded that it cannot be ruled out that MINISO's share price will follow the broader market to test HKD 22 before finding initial support, and investors should remain cautious.
