[ET Net News Agency, 25 February 2026] US stocks rebounded on Tuesday alongside gains in
AI infrastructure and software stocks, and Hong Kong stocks also followed suit and moved
higher. Key policy sectors such as domestic consumption and property led the gains. The
Hang Seng Index closed the morning at 26,789, up 199 points or 0.8%, with main board
turnover close to HKD 122.3 billion. However, Stock Connect recorded a net outflow of HKD
1.7 billion for the time being. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index reported 9,088, up
81 points or 0.9%. The Hang Seng Tech Index reported 5,288, up 17 points or 0.3%.

"Mak Ka Ka: Trump's tariff policy difficult to further escalate, HSI still expected to
test 28,000 in first half"

On this day, "three shots" were fired in both the Hong Kong and US markets. In addition
to US President Trump delivering the State of the Union address, Hong Kong's Financial
Secretary Paul Chan announced the latest Budget, and HSBC (00005) released its full-year
results, attracting the market's close attention. Benefiting from the stable external
performance, Hong Kong stocks rose about 200 points at midday. Mak Ka Ka, Head of
Financial Products Trading and Research Department of SinoPac Securities (Asia), told ET
Net News Agency that bullish and bearish factors in the Hong Kong market are currently
evenly matched, so it is expected that the Hang Seng Index will move sideways in the short
term, mainly fluctuating between 26,500 and 27,000. The market has recently been concerned
about the resurgence of tariff risks. Although, after Trump's tariffs were ruled
unconstitutional, he cited Section 122 to impose a further 15% tariff, Mak Ka Ka believes
that after the volatility caused by tariffs last year, the market has developed a certain
level of immunity. She expects that the impact of these new tariffs on market volatility
will be relatively limited, and also notes that after the court's decision, it will be
difficult for Trump to introduce more severe tariff measures. At the same time, the
current Section 122 measure is only valid for 150 days; after that, an extension would
require congressional approval, so the impact of tariffs is expected to diminish.
However, since there will be US midterm elections at the end of this year, Mak Ka Ka
expects that Trump may try other ways to attract votes, which could result in market
volatility this year. Against this backdrop, at the beginning of the year, most brokers
were optimistic about the performance of Hong Kong stocks this year, with many market
participants even bullish about the Hang Seng Index reaching 30,000. Mak Ka Ka said that
although the US midterm election factor will have some impact, she does not rule out the
possibility that the Hang Seng Index can challenge 28,000 in the first half of the year,
but this requires three factors: first, the renminbi remains strong; second, policy
support following the Mainland China's "Two Sessions"; and third, the ongoing trend of
asset de-dollarisation. She explained that the market expects further stimulus for
consumption and technological development after the Two Sessions, and the trend of
de-dollarisation will be favourable for capital inflow into emerging markets, both of
which are positive for Hong Kong stocks.

"Pay attention to direct beneficiaries when betting on storage chip concept"

According to Mainland China media quoting foreign sources, Apple is considering
cooperating with Chinese semiconductor enterprises, ChangXin Memory and Yangtze Memory, to
supply memory and storage chips for the upcoming iPhone 18 series and other products such
as MacBook and desktop Mac. In recent days, storage chip concept stocks have been strong.
Mak Ka Ka expects demand for storage chips to remain robust this year, and she expects
prices for storage chips and related shares to have further room to rise. However, she
reminds investors to distinguish between "concept" and "reality" when trading related
themes: direct beneficiaries are preferable to indirect concept stocks. She also mentioned
that because the market is currently extremely optimistic about the sector, attracting
considerable speculative capital, there could be large swings in the sector, so risk
management is very important when trading.