US President Donald Trump said the war with Iran has ended and there are no plans to extend the ceasefire agreement, with negotiations between the two sides possibly resuming in Pakistan within two days. The HSI opened higher today (15th) but pared gains later, failing to hold the 26,000 level. On hopes that the US and Iran may reach an agreement, the DJIA and Nasdaq rose 0.7% and 2% overnight (14th). At the time of writing, the US 2-year Treasury yield rose to 3.755%, while the US 10-year Treasury yield stood at 4.256%, and the US Dollar Index fell to 98.15. DJIA futures were last down 9 points or 0.02%, while Nasdaq futures rose 38 points or 0.15%. The Shanghai Composite Index edged up by less than 1 point to close at 4,027. The Shenzhen Component Index fell 1% and the ChiNext Index dropped 1.2%. Total turnover on the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets amounted to nearly RMB2.415 trillion.

The HSI opened 295 points higher and once climbed 344 points to a peak of 26,216. It closed up 75 points or 0.3% at 25,947, the days trough. The HSCEI rose 46 points or 0.5% to 8,718, while the HSTECH gained 59 points or 1.2% to 4,911. Total market turnover reached HKD245.588 billion. Southbound trading turnover totaled HKD106.462 billion, with net inflow of HKD4.221 billion today (net outflow of HKD2.017 billion in the previous trading day). Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (00388.HK)  -0.600 (-0.146%)    Short selling $185.95M; Ratio 15.181%   rose 1.7%. Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable (06869.HK)  -12.600 (-5.408%)    Short selling $363.55M; Ratio 10.636%   slid nearly 5% to HKD205.6, with turnover of HKD4.11 billion. AI-related stocks Zhipu (02513.HK)  -93.000 (-9.047%)    Short selling $606.11M; Ratio 20.478%   and MiniMax (00100.HK)  -81.000 (-9.435%)    Short selling $714.77M; Ratio 35.231%   retreated 8.5% and 10.9%, while Unisound (09678.HK)  -20.600 (-5.988%)    Short selling $205.97K; Ratio 0.101%   dropped 11.2%.

Related NewsLuckin Coffee (LKNCY.US) to Launch Bottled Ready-to-Drink Coffee in Late Apr Priced at RMB6-7, Lower Than Starbucks
CATL (03750.HK)  -7.500 (-1.068%)    Short selling $345.32M; Ratio 14.469%   fell 0.7% to HKD655.5. Tianqi Lithium (09696.HK)  +3.450 (+6.053%)    Short selling $114.48M; Ratio 12.380%   and Ganfeng Lithium (01772.HK)  +6.900 (+9.182%)    Short selling $108.33M; Ratio 7.526%   both declined nearly 5%.

Alibaba Supported; JD.com Sought After

Tech stocks broadly advanced. Baidu-SW (09888.HK)  +0.900 (+0.747%)    Short selling $477.94M; Ratio 42.915%   rose 3.1% to HKD114.5. Tencent (00700.HK)  -1.800 (-0.363%)    Short selling $1.48B; Ratio 16.230%   gained 1.2% to HKD499, while Meituan-W (03690.HK)  -0.650 (-0.782%)    Short selling $990.17M; Ratio 33.280%   and NetEase-S (09999.HK)  -1.500 (-0.870%)    Short selling $165.35M; Ratio 16.491%   each climbed 1.4%. Alibaba-W (09988.HK)  +1.400 (+1.074%)    Short selling $1.39B; Ratio 16.756%   rebounded nearly 3.3% to HKD128.6, with turnover of HKD12.319 billion. Alibaba Cloud announced that starting July 15 this year, it will adjust pricing for the Elasticity 95 feature under DDoS Native Protection 2.0 (annual/monthly subscription), DDoS High Defense (Mainland China), and DDoS High Defense (Non-Mainland China).

Related NewsLoan Prime Rate 1Y for April 2026 in China is 3.00%, unchanged from its last period. The forecast was 3.0%.
JD.com (09618.HK)  -0.200 (-0.168%)    Short selling $239.19M; Ratio 35.573%   jumped 4.6% to HKD120.7, with turnover of HKD2.839 billion. JPM released a research report reinstating an Overweight rating on JD.com with a TP of HKD148. The broker believes investors should focus on upside earnings risks for 2026 rather than the downside risks faced by many Chinese internet peers. It noted that the 4Q results last year and 2026 guidance demonstrated resilience in core operations, the most aggressive investment phase in instant retail has passed, and international expansion should be more prudent. JPM raised its 2026 and 2027 revenue forecasts by 1% and 2%, and lifted adjusted net profit forecasts by 13% and 26%, which are 17% and 7% above market consensus, respectively, mainly reflecting lower-than-expected losses in instant retail.

1,100 Stocks Advance; Pharma Shares Rally

Market breadth in Hong Kong slightly weakened. The ratio of advancers to decliners on the Main Board was 27 to 24 (32 to 19 in the previous session), with 1,141 stocks rising (up 3.07%). Among HSI constituents, 48 stocks rose while 40 fell, giving a ratio of 53 to 44 (68 to 32 in the previous session). Short selling amounted to HKD37.954 billion, accounting for 18.766% of the HKD202.254 billion turnover of securities eligible for short selling.

Mainland authorities issued guidelines to improve the drug pricing formation mechanism and optimize the pricing mechanism for innovative drugs and other first-launch products. Pharma stocks advanced. Sino Biopharmaceutical (01177.HK)  +0.090 (+1.610%)    Short selling $107.45M; Ratio 22.876%   , 3SBio (01530.HK)  +0.620 (+2.800%)    Short selling $188.30M; Ratio 16.606%   , Kelun-Biotech (06990.HK)  +13.200 (+2.841%)    Short selling $64.97M; Ratio 23.295%   , Innovent Biologics (01801.HK)  +2.800 (+3.373%)    Short selling $202.60M; Ratio 18.937%   , Akeso (09926.HK)  +1.200 (+0.920%)    Short selling $216.59M; Ratio 14.345%   and Junshi Biosciences (01877.HK)  -0.020 (-0.077%)    Short selling $1.07M; Ratio 0.942%   rose between 5.8% and 8.2%. Duality Biotherapeutics (09606.HK)  +1.200 (+0.412%)    Short selling $13.71M; Ratio 4.673%   and Rongchang Biotech (09995.HK)  -0.500 (-0.478%)    Short selling $31.58M; Ratio 10.380%   surged 10.8% and 9.1%, respectively.

Citi said the State Council of China issued the "Opinions on Reforming the Drug Pricing Formation Mechanism", describing it as a landmark national guidance document that continues a series of innovation-encouraging policies. The broker considers it the most significant central government drug pricing guidance since 2015. The policy aims to allow the market to play a leading role in drug pricing. Citi views this as a clear commitment by the government to foster a strong and globally competitive domestic pharmaceutical industry. It believes major innovative pharmaceutical and biotech companies will benefit, including Hengrui Pharmaceuticals (01276.HK)  +0.150 (+0.218%)    Short selling $32.05M; Ratio 26.838%   , CSPC Pharmaceutical (01093.HK)  +0.060 (+0.673%)    Short selling $223.90M; Ratio 34.571%   , Innovent Biologics and other multinational companies with substantial innovative drug sales in China. (wl/da)(HK stocks quote is delayed for at least 15 mins.Short Selling Data as at 2026-04-24 16:25.)

AASTOCKS Financial News