KGI Asia Commentary
HSI rose 95 points on Monday
The Hang Seng Index opened 86 points higher and then expanded its gains. After rising 380 points, the upward trend slowed down significantly. It rose 95 points or 0.5% today to close at 17,746 points. The HSCEI rose 13 points, or 0.2%, to close at 6,282; the HSTECH fell 4 points, or 0.1%, to close at 3,713. The total daily turnover of the market was HK$163.42bn. AIA (1299)'s new business value in the 1Q24 hit a quarterly high, and the share buyback plan increased by US$2bn, the stock price rose 6.1%. Bank of Communications (3328)'s 1Q24 net profit rose 1.4%, and its stock price rose 3.5%.
U.S. Treasury Department bond issuance in 2Q higher than expected
Although the Federal has continued to reduce its balance sheet by US$95bn per under the rate hike cycle, the pace of balance sheet reduction in the future may be slowed due to the U.S. Treasury Department. The U.S. Treasury Department expected debt issuance in the 2Q to be US$243bn, approximately US$41bn more than estimated in January. This is mainly due to the overestimation in January of the amount of cash at the end of March. Unless the Treasury Department is willing to offer higher debt returns to the market, the Federal may have to purchase Treasury bonds to finance the U.S. government.
All three major U.S. stock indexes recorded gains. The DJIA rose 146 points, or 0.4%, to close at 38,386; the Nasdaq composite rose 55 points, or 0.4%, to close at 15,983; and the S&P 500 rose 16 points, or 0.3%, to close at 5,116.
China’s gaming market revenue rose 7.2% yoy in March
According to a report from the Game Working Committee of the China Audio and Digital Association, the Chinese game market revenue in March was RMb23.42bn, a yoy increase of 7.2%, but a mom decrease of 5.9%. The report explained that the monthly decrease in market revenue was mainly due to the subsidence of the Lunar New Year and the reduction in the number of leading product activities. The game market revenue in the 1Q24 was RMb72.64bn,a yoy increase of 7.6%, but still lower than the RMb79.47bn and RMb77.04bn in the same period in 2022 and 2021 respectively.
Hong Kong Stock Connect had a net inflow of HK2.75bn on Friday, of which BOC (3988) had the largest net inflow, reaching HK$1.58bn; followed by SenseTime (0020). Meituan (3690) recorded the largest net outflow at HK$1.07bn, followed by China Mobile (0941).
Wen Kit Kenny is a SFC licensed person accredited to KGI Group to carry on regulated activities (for details, please refer to:https://apps.sfc.hk/publicregWeb/indi/AJF244/details). He and/or his associate do not have any financial interest in the recommended issuer or new listing applicant.
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