Instant Commerce & AI Tailwinds Lift Growth Stocks On High Volumes
5 Min. Read Time
Key News
Asian equities had a strong start to the week, except for Thailand and Indonesia. Japan missed out on the fun due to the Coming of Age Day holiday, which, according to Perplexity, “honors those who have newly reached adulthood and encourages them to become responsible, self-reliant members of society.” China's currency, the renminbi (CNY), hit yet another 52-week high value against the US dollar terms, as one dollar now buys only 6.97 CNY.
Let’s not bury the lead: Alibaba gained +5.32% after State Council’s Office of the Anti-monopoly and Unfair Competition Commission announced “the problems of subsidy competition, price sharing, and traffic control in the food delivery platform service industry have been outstanding, squeezing the real economy and intensifying 'internal competition' in the industry.” We were surprised that Alibaba’s US listing was down Friday, as we wrote in Friday’s morning note that the news could be a strong catalyst. It was good to see Hong Kong recognize the positive news, which is why we hold the Hong Kong-listed shares and not the US listing.
Alibaba’s volumes were very high, up +42% from Friday’s volume and 147% of the 1-year average. Restaurant delivery beneficiaries also included Meituan, which gained 6.6% on volume up 51% from Friday, and JD.com, which gained 1.91%, although its volumes were lower than on Friday.
Internet and AI-related names had a strong day, as Tencent gained+1.96% on strong volumes, Kuaishou gained +7.43%, and Baidu gained +5.31%. Meanwhile, recent AI-related IPOs also did well. Minimax gained 15.36% and Knowledge Atlas (Zhipu) gained +31.4%. Also helping the AI tailwind was the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), which stated the importance of AI integration in industries. Also helping is the anticipation that DeepSeek’s V4 model will launch next month.
BYD gained +1.22%, though electric vehicle (EV) stocks generally were mixed. There was chatter that XPeng will spin off its flying car division via a Hong Kong IPO later this year.
Mainland investors bought a healthy net $937 million worth of Hong Kong-listed stocks and ETFs today via Southbound Stock Connect. Mainland China had its strongest day of volume ever, led higher by growth stocks, as software, media, entertainment, and non-ferrous metals all outperformed, while technology hardware and solar stocks were mixed.
The semiconductor-heavy STAR Market gained +2.43% and was a clear beneficiary of the AI news. Oil stocks were weak on lower prices.
Self-variable Robotics, which refers to modular robotic systems and can disband and re-attach themselves, made news for its high RMB 1 billion investment from esteemed investors including Alibaba, Tencent, Meituan, and Sequoia China.
With oil prices plunging following the removal of Maduro from Venezuela's presidency, a quick stroll down index exposure memory lane highlights how dramatically China’s capital markets have evolved. Fifteen years ago (year-end 2010), energy accounted for 18.13% of the MSCI China Index. Today, as of year-end 2025, it only accounts for 2.64%! Financials went from 31.73% to 17.92%. Consumer Discretionary rose 5.52% to 27.78%, driven by the inclusion of US-listed China stocks in 2015 and 2016, including a little company called Alibaba. Healthcare and technology stocks rose from 1.47% to 4.57% and from 2.42% to 8.14%, respectively. Communications rose from 14.39% to 22.75%, though China's telecom stocks dropped dramatically, while a little company called Tencent rose dramatically.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will visit China Wednesday to meet with President Xi.
Last Night's Performance
| Country / Index | Ticker | 1-Day Change |
|---|---|---|
| China (Hong Kong) | HSI Index | 1.4% |
| Hang Seng Tech | HSTECH Index | 3.1% |
| Hong Kong Turnover | HKTurn Index | 24.9% |
| Hong Kong Short Sale Turnover | HKSST Index | 34.4% |
| Short Turnover as a % of Hong Kong Turnover | N/A | 14% |
| Southbound Stock Connect Net Buy/Sell (US $ Millions) | N/A | 933.06 |
| China (Shanghai) | SHCOMP Index | 1.1% |
| China (Shenzhen) | SZCOMP Index | 2% |
| China (STAR Board) | Star50 Index | 2.4% |
| Mainland Turnover | .chturn Index | 15.4% |
| Northbound Stock Connect Net Buy/Sell (US $ Millions) | N/A | Not Available |
| Jing Daily China Global Luxury Index | CHINALUX Index | -1.3% |
| Japan | NKY Index | Closed |
| India | SENSEX Index | 0.4% |
| Indonesia | JCI Index | -0.6% |
| Malaysia | FBMKLCI Index | 0.5% |
| Pakistan | KSE100 Index | -1.2% |
| Philippines | PCOMP Index | 1.1% |
| South Korea | KOSPI Index | 0.8% |
| Taiwan | TWSE Index | 0.9% |
| Thailand | SET Index | -0.9% |
| Singapore | STI Index | 0.5% |
| Australia | AS51 Index | 0.5% |
| Vietnam | VNINDEX Index | 0.5% |
| Indicator | Hong Kong | Mainland China |
|---|---|---|
| Today's Volume as % of 1-Year Average | 121 | 206 |
| Advancing Stocks | 287 | 3860 |
| Declining Stocks | 198 | 1146 |
| Outperforming Factors | Growth, Liquidity, Momentum | Liquidity, Quality, Growth |
| Underperforming Factors | Value | Value |
| Top Sectors | Discretionary, Staples, Communication Services | Communication, Tech, Financials |
| Bottom Sectors | Energy, Real Estate | Real Estate, Energy, Industrials |
| Top Subsectors | Paper/Packaging, Consumer Staples Distribution, Media/Entertainment | Internet, Cultural Media, Software |
| Bottom Subsectors | Electrical Equipment, Household Appliances, Aerospace | Insurance, Energy Equipment, Petrochemical |
| Southbound Connect Buys | Kuiashou, Tencent (Large), HS Tech ETF, Xiaomi (Moderate), Alibaba (Small), SMIC, XtalPI (Tiny) | N/A |
| Southbound Connect Sells | Meituan (Moderate), Goldwin (Tiny) | N/A |
| MSCI China All Shares Index | # of Stocks | Average 1-Day Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Hong Kong Listed | 151 | 2.09 |
| Communication Services | 9 | 2.56 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 28 | 3.53 |
| Consumer Staples | 13 | 2.59 |
| Energy | 7 | -0.38 |
| Financials | 23 | 0.41 |
| Health Care | 13 | 0.67 |
| Industrials | 20 | 0.25 |
| Information Technology | 10 | 2.18 |
| Materials | 10 | 2.12 |
| Real Estate | 6 | -0.1 |
| Utilities | 12 | 0.15 |
| Mainland China Listed | 404 | 0.92 |
| Communication Services | 6 | 6.85 |
| Consumer Discretionary | 31 | 0.26 |
| Consumer Staples | 24 | 0.65 |
| Energy | 13 | -0.05 |
| Financials | 64 | 0.77 |
| Health Care | 31 | 0.69 |
| Industrials | 64 | -0.04 |
| Information Technology | 91 | 2.14 |
| Materials | 58 | 0.41 |
| Real Estate | 6 | -0.51 |
| Utilities | 16 | 0.7 |
| US & Hong Kong Dually Listed | Ticker | 1-Day Change (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Tencent HK | 700 HK Equity | 2 |
| Alibaba HK | 9988 HK Equity | 5.3 |
| JD.com HK | 9618 HK Equity | 2 |
| NetEase HK | 9999 HK Equity | 3 |
| Yum China HK | 9987 HK Equity | 1.4 |
| Baozun HK | 9991 HK Equity | -1.7 |
| Baidu HK | 9888 HK Equity | 5.3 |
| Autohome HK | 2518 HK Equity | -3.4 |
| Bilibili HK | 9626 HK Equity | 6.5 |
| Trip.com HK | 9961 HK Equity | 1.8 |
| EDU HK | 9901 HK Equity | 1.5 |
| Xpeng HK | 9868 HK Equity | 2.3 |
| Weibo HK | 9898 HK Equity | 1.7 |
| Li Auto HK | 2015 HK Equity | 0 |
| Nio Auto HK | 9866 HK Equity | 1.1 |
| Zhihu HK | 2390 HK Equity | 7 |
| KE HK | 2423 HK Equity | 0.8 |
| Tencent Music Entertainment HK | 1698 HK Equity | -0.3 |
| Meituan HK | 3690 HK Equity | 6.6 |
| Hong Kong's Most Heavily Traded by Value | 1-Day Change (%) |
|---|---|
| SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURI-H | 1.2 |
| TENCENT HOLDINGS LTD | 2 |
| ALIBABA GROUP HOLDING LTD | 5.3 |
| CHINA MOBILE LTD-H | 0.2 |
| HUA HONG SEMICONDUCTOR LTD-H | 0.3 |
| XIAOMI CORP-CLASS B | 2.4 |
| HSBC HOLDINGS PLC | -0.6 |
| MEITUAN-CLASS B | 6.6 |
| PING AN INSURANCE GROUP CO-H | -2.1 |
| YANGTZE OPTICAL FIBRE AND-H | -1.7 |
| Shanghai and Shenzhen's Most Heavily Traded by Value | 1-Day Change (%) |
|---|---|
| BLUEFOCUS INTELLIGENT COMM-A | 20 |
| ADDSINO CO LTD -A | 5.9 |
| ZHONGJI INNOLIGHT CO LTD-A | 1.5 |
| EOPTOLINK TECHNOLOGY INC L-A | -1.7 |
| CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECHN-A | -2 |
| EAST MONEY INFORMATION CO-A | 3.8 |
| SHENZHEN SUNWAY COMMUNICAT-A | 10.6 |
| SUNGROW POWER SUPPLY CO LT-A | -3.3 |
| ZHEJIANG SANHUA INTELLIGEN-A | -0.2 |
| CAMBRICON TECHNOLOGIES-A | 1.3 |
Last Night's Exchange Rates, Prices, & Yields
- CNY per USD 6.97 versus 6.98 yesterday
- CNY per EUR 8.14 versus 8.12 yesterday
- Yield on 10-Year Government Bond 1.86% versus 1.88% yesterday
- Yield on 10-Year China Development Bank Bond 1.97% versus 1.98% yesterday
- Copper Price 2.47%
- Steel Price 0.39%
