Key News
Asian equities were lower on Middle East tensions, except for Hong Kong, which posted a very strong day.
Mainland China remains closed for the week-long national holiday, Taiwan is closed for a typhoon, and India is closed for Mahatma Gandhi Jayanthi, celebrating the birth of Gandhi.
Hong Kong ripped higher, led by growth stocks on strong volume, which was 398% of the 1-year average. There was strong breadth with 437 stocks closing higher, while there were only 68 decliners as every sector and sub-sector were higher. The strong volume was accomplished without Southbound Stock Connect/Mainland buying, which normally accounts for almost a third of Hong Kong’s turnover, which remains closed until next Tuesday along with Mainland China. Hong Kong’s most heavily traded by value were Tencent, up +5.71%, Alibaba, up +4.64%, Meituan, up +14.65%, Hong Kong Exchange, up +14.29%, Ping An Insurance, up +12.86%, and JD.com up +10.77%, as the company will benefit from home appliance trade-in subsidies.
Electric vehicle stocks had a strong day following September sales numbers. After the close, Alibaba announced in Q3 that the company spent $4.1 billion buying 414 million shares/52 million ADRs, reducing the company’s shares outstanding by 2.1% (I posted the announcement on X/Twitter @ahern_brendan). The six Hong Kong-listed real estate stocks left remaining in MSCI China All Shares soared by +17% on policy support for the beleaguered sector, with Suanc up +75% and Vande up +61%. I’ve been pounding the table on the US dollar-denominated Asia High Yield as a great way to play the real estate rebound to no avail, as despite great yields, no cares.
China’s monetary and fiscal stimulus has sent some investors scrambling to rectify their significant underweight to China. Mainland Chinese media noted a global bank’s report that hedge funds have been quick to rectify their underweight, though that weight remains well below the levels seen three/four years ago. Mainland Chinese futures trading in Hong Kong and Singapore are up 8.19% and 7.35%, indicating a very strong move once the Mainland reopens next Tuesday. I would suspect the STAR Board will have a strong day as local investors focus on small caps while foreign investors focus on big/liquid mega caps.
Sina Finance had an article on the scramble for Mainland investors to open brokerage accounts. Sixty brokerage houses stayed open during the national holiday to open accounts for new clients. One broker noted that the number of new account openings was 3X the normal, while password retrieval increased 6X. China Securities and Depository and Clearing Corporation should release the number of new brokerage accounts open next week.
The Hang Seng and Hang Seng Tech gained +6.2% and +8.53%, respectively, on volume down -14.2% from Monday, which is 398% of the 1-year average. 437 stocks advanced, while 68 declined. Main Board short turnover declined by -3.95% from Monday, which is 327% of the 1-year average, as 14% of turnover was short turnover (Hong Kong short turnover includes ETF short volume, which is driven by market makers’ ETF hedging). Growth and small capitalization stocks outperformed value and large capitalization stocks. All sectors were positive, with real estate up +17.03%, financials up +8.25%, and consumer discretionary up +7.66%. All sub-sectors closed higher, led higher by diversified finance, real estate, and consumer durables. Southbound Stock Connect is closed until next Tuesday.
Shanghai, Shenzhen, and the STAR Board are closed until next Tuesday.
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