[ET Net News Agency, 25 June 2026] Hong Kong stocks recorded their eighth consecutive negative candlestick by the end of the morning session. With the Straits of Hormuz expected to remain open for navigation, the prices of oil, precious metals, and various commodities continued to decline, dragging down the performance of resource stocks. Coupled with Trip.com (09961) being sold off after its earnings report, Hong Kong stocks fell again, narrowly defending the 23,000 level and hitting a one-year low of 23,004. The HSI stood at 23,088 at the end of the morning session, down 323 points or 1.4%, with main board turnover exceeding HKD 174.3 billion. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index stood at 7,618, down 146 points or 1.9%. The Hang Seng Tech Index stood at 4,404, down 74 points or 1.7%.
"Mak Ka Ka: HSI expected to fluctuate between 23,000 and 23,500 in the short term"
Overnight US and European stock markets moved mixed, and Asian stock markets generally rose this morning. However, Hong Kong stocks underperformed global markets once again, falling over 400 points at one point during this morning's trading, approaching the edge of the 23,000-point mark. Mak Ka Ka, Head of Financial Products Trading and Research Department of SinoPac Securities (Asia), told ET Net News Agency that the US dollar index has strengthened recently, hovering around the 101.5 to 101.6 range this morning, while the onshore Renminbi was soft. Traditionally, a stronger US dollar is relatively unfavourable to emerging markets such as Mainland China and Hong Kong stock markets, which has become one of the reasons for the weakness of Hong Kong stocks. In addition, southbound capital inflows have shown signs of slowing down recently. Coupled with the recent preference of southbound capital for speculative AI concept stocks, the heavily-weighted e-commerce platform stocks lack sufficient AI components, making them targets for capital outflows as southbound capital rotates its speculation. Furthermore, other stock markets in the region, such as those in Korea and Taiwan, have benefited from the AI concept and attracted some capital outflows, which has also exacerbated the decline of Hong Kong stocks.
Mak pointed out that although 23,000 is a critical level for the HSI, the continuous weakness of Hong Kong stocks means that even falling below this level is not impossible. However, she believes that the market can struggle around the 23,000 level in the short term, and a technical rebound cannot be ruled out for the future market. She explained that after all, the HSI has accumulated a drop of about 2,000 points from its high of around 25,000 points in mid-June to date. However, as the structural problems of Hong Kong stocks remain unchanged, with a high proportion of e-commerce among heavily-weighted stocks and fewer AI components, the short-term weakness is difficult to reverse. Even if the HSI has a chance to rebound, resistance is expected at 23,500 points. Mak expects the HSI to fluctuate between the 23,000 and 23,500 range in the short term.
"Hawkish Warsh fuels expectations of high interest rates, gold price still faces downward pressure in the short term"
As the situation in the Middle East becomes clearer, safe-haven sentiment has cooled down. Coupled with a stronger US dollar, overnight spot gold fell below the key USD 4,000 per ounce mark, hitting a low of USD 3,959.02 at one point, a decline of up to 3.7%. During the Asian session this morning, the gold price still lacked the momentum to rebound and continued to hover at low levels, with the spot gold price continuing to float below USD 4,000. Mak stated that after Kevin Warsh, the new Chairman of the Federal Reserve, took office, the market expected his stance to be hawkish. Many major banks have shifted their stances, predicting that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in the second half of the year and maintain interest rates at a relatively high level in the future, due to concerns that rising interest rates will increase the cost of holding gold. Therefore, the gold price has continued to soften recently. Mak predicts that in the short term, the spot gold price will fluctuate between the USD 3,800 and USD 4,200 range, meaning that there is still a possibility for the gold price to fall towards USD 3,800. However, supported by demand from institutional investments including ETFs, as well as central banks, the gold price still has a chance to rise in the medium to long term. Nevertheless, several major banks have already lowered their gold price forecasts for the second half of the year. Therefore, the gains will be more cautious than before.
Affected by the decline in gold prices, a number of gold mining stocks plunged in response. Zhaojin Mining (01818) and SD Gold (01787) dropped by about 9% at most during the session, Lingbao Gold (03330) and Zijin Gold Intl (02259) once fell by 8%, and Zijin Mining (02899) also dropped by over 7% at one point. Mak said that since different gold mining stocks have different sensitivities to the gold price, it is understandable that the declines vary. Although the accumulated declines in gold prices and gold mining stocks have been significant recently, the gold price still faces downward pressure in the short term, and gold mining stocks are not a popular sector for capital speculation. Therefore, it is not recommended to touch gold mining stocks for the time being.
Different from gold mining stocks, even though the gold price fell, individual gold jewellery retail stocks such as Chow Tai Fook (01929) and Luk Fook (00590) still opened higher against the market trend this morning (although they later fell along with the broader market). Mak pointed out that the gold price is a double-edged sword for gold jewellery retail stocks. Although the drop in gold price has weakened the desire of some investment customers to buy gold, it has increased the attractiveness for some customers with rigid demand. In addition, the decline in gold price reduces the cost of holding gold for related companies, unless the gold price plummets. Otherwise, it might not be a bad thing for these enterprises. However, individual gold jewellery retail stocks such as Laopu Gold (06181) have high sensitivity to the gold price. In the past, when the gold price rose, there were situations where customers queued up to buy Laopu Gold jewellery; now that the gold price has fallen, it is believed that the situation will reverse. Therefore, with the recent drop in gold price, the reaction of this stock has been greater than that of other gold jewellery retail stocks.
"Mak Ka Ka: HSI expected to fluctuate between 23,000 and 23,500 in the short term"
Overnight US and European stock markets moved mixed, and Asian stock markets generally rose this morning. However, Hong Kong stocks underperformed global markets once again, falling over 400 points at one point during this morning's trading, approaching the edge of the 23,000-point mark. Mak Ka Ka, Head of Financial Products Trading and Research Department of SinoPac Securities (Asia), told ET Net News Agency that the US dollar index has strengthened recently, hovering around the 101.5 to 101.6 range this morning, while the onshore Renminbi was soft. Traditionally, a stronger US dollar is relatively unfavourable to emerging markets such as Mainland China and Hong Kong stock markets, which has become one of the reasons for the weakness of Hong Kong stocks. In addition, southbound capital inflows have shown signs of slowing down recently. Coupled with the recent preference of southbound capital for speculative AI concept stocks, the heavily-weighted e-commerce platform stocks lack sufficient AI components, making them targets for capital outflows as southbound capital rotates its speculation. Furthermore, other stock markets in the region, such as those in Korea and Taiwan, have benefited from the AI concept and attracted some capital outflows, which has also exacerbated the decline of Hong Kong stocks.
Mak pointed out that although 23,000 is a critical level for the HSI, the continuous weakness of Hong Kong stocks means that even falling below this level is not impossible. However, she believes that the market can struggle around the 23,000 level in the short term, and a technical rebound cannot be ruled out for the future market. She explained that after all, the HSI has accumulated a drop of about 2,000 points from its high of around 25,000 points in mid-June to date. However, as the structural problems of Hong Kong stocks remain unchanged, with a high proportion of e-commerce among heavily-weighted stocks and fewer AI components, the short-term weakness is difficult to reverse. Even if the HSI has a chance to rebound, resistance is expected at 23,500 points. Mak expects the HSI to fluctuate between the 23,000 and 23,500 range in the short term.
"Hawkish Warsh fuels expectations of high interest rates, gold price still faces downward pressure in the short term"
As the situation in the Middle East becomes clearer, safe-haven sentiment has cooled down. Coupled with a stronger US dollar, overnight spot gold fell below the key USD 4,000 per ounce mark, hitting a low of USD 3,959.02 at one point, a decline of up to 3.7%. During the Asian session this morning, the gold price still lacked the momentum to rebound and continued to hover at low levels, with the spot gold price continuing to float below USD 4,000. Mak stated that after Kevin Warsh, the new Chairman of the Federal Reserve, took office, the market expected his stance to be hawkish. Many major banks have shifted their stances, predicting that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in the second half of the year and maintain interest rates at a relatively high level in the future, due to concerns that rising interest rates will increase the cost of holding gold. Therefore, the gold price has continued to soften recently. Mak predicts that in the short term, the spot gold price will fluctuate between the USD 3,800 and USD 4,200 range, meaning that there is still a possibility for the gold price to fall towards USD 3,800. However, supported by demand from institutional investments including ETFs, as well as central banks, the gold price still has a chance to rise in the medium to long term. Nevertheless, several major banks have already lowered their gold price forecasts for the second half of the year. Therefore, the gains will be more cautious than before.
Affected by the decline in gold prices, a number of gold mining stocks plunged in response. Zhaojin Mining (01818) and SD Gold (01787) dropped by about 9% at most during the session, Lingbao Gold (03330) and Zijin Gold Intl (02259) once fell by 8%, and Zijin Mining (02899) also dropped by over 7% at one point. Mak said that since different gold mining stocks have different sensitivities to the gold price, it is understandable that the declines vary. Although the accumulated declines in gold prices and gold mining stocks have been significant recently, the gold price still faces downward pressure in the short term, and gold mining stocks are not a popular sector for capital speculation. Therefore, it is not recommended to touch gold mining stocks for the time being.
Different from gold mining stocks, even though the gold price fell, individual gold jewellery retail stocks such as Chow Tai Fook (01929) and Luk Fook (00590) still opened higher against the market trend this morning (although they later fell along with the broader market). Mak pointed out that the gold price is a double-edged sword for gold jewellery retail stocks. Although the drop in gold price has weakened the desire of some investment customers to buy gold, it has increased the attractiveness for some customers with rigid demand. In addition, the decline in gold price reduces the cost of holding gold for related companies, unless the gold price plummets. Otherwise, it might not be a bad thing for these enterprises. However, individual gold jewellery retail stocks such as Laopu Gold (06181) have high sensitivity to the gold price. In the past, when the gold price rose, there were situations where customers queued up to buy Laopu Gold jewellery; now that the gold price has fallen, it is believed that the situation will reverse. Therefore, with the recent drop in gold price, the reaction of this stock has been greater than that of other gold jewellery retail stocks.
