The Hong Kong stock market experienced a volatile session on Wednesday, with major indices paring gains in the afternoon and the Hang Seng Tech Index turning negative.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed up 0.6%, or 144.94 points, at 24,175.12, with a total turnover of HK$339.592 billion.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 0.52% to 8,039.19, while the Hang Seng Tech Index declined 0.21% to 4,721.66.

For the week, the Hang Seng Index gained 3.53%, the HSCEI advanced 4.41%, and the Hang Seng Tech Index climbed 4.95%.

Key Market Movers

Blue-chip stocks were led higher by CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd (HKEX: 00001), which surged 7.53% to HK$70, contributing 20.07 points to the HSI.

The company announced it is in discussions to sell its European perfume and cosmetics retailer, Marionnaud, to potential buyer BEHN.

Other notable blue-chip performers included WuXi AppTec Co Ltd (HKEX: 02359), up 4.09% to HK$155.1, and Innovent Biologics Inc (HKEX: 01801), which rose 3.88% to HK$89.7.

On the downside, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (HKEX: 03750) tumbled 7.92% to HK$587, weighing on the index, while Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (HKEX: 00981) fell 4.67% to HK$79.65.

Sector Performance Highlights

Major technology stocks mostly closed in positive territory, with Xiaomi Corp, JD.com Inc, Kuaishou Technology, and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd all gaining over 2%.

The commercial aerospace sector surged in the afternoon following the successful controlled recovery of the Long March 10B rocket.

Pharmaceutical stocks related to innovative drugs were mostly higher after the release of a new national essential medicines list.

Non-ferrous metals stocks were broadly active following strong first-half earnings reports.

Pork-related stocks, automotive shares, and mainland property developers also generally trended higher.

Conversely, semiconductor, PCB, and optical communication stocks, which had rallied recently, opened strong but retreated, with computing hardware shares leading the declines.

Top Gaining Sectors

Commercial Aerospace Soars on Rocket Recovery Milestone

Stocks in the commercial aerospace sector climbed sharply.

Junda Technology Co Ltd (HKEX: 02865) jumped 24.2% to HK$23.2, Goldwind Science & Technology Co Ltd (HKEX: 02208) advanced 8.4% to HK$10.58, and APT Satellite Holdings Ltd (HKEX: 01045) rose 4.27% to HK$2.44.

The rally was triggered by news that China successfully achieved the first-stage recovery of its Long March 10B carrier rocket on a sea-based platform.

This milestone establishes China as the second country globally, after the United States, to master large-payload reusable rocket technology, and the first to achieve a networked recovery system.

Analysts view this technological breakthrough as a critical inflection point for the commercial space industry, paving the way for reduced launch costs, accelerated satellite constellation deployment, and the development of integrated space-air-ground networks.

Innovative Drug Stocks Gain on Policy Support

Shares of innovative drug companies attracted significant buying interest.

Kelun-Bota Biopharma (HKEX: 06990) gained 8.74% to HK$516.5, 3SBio Inc (HKEX: 01530) increased 6.29% to HK$18.07, and InnoCare Pharma Ltd (HKEX: 09969) added 4.25% to HK$13.98.

The gains followed the joint release of the 2026 edition of the National Essential Medicines List by several government health agencies.

A key market focus was the inclusion of 16 innovative drugs for the first time, including four domestically developed Class I new drugs.

Separately, data shows that the total value of out-licensing deals for Chinese innovative drugs approached $100 billion in the first half of 2026, reaching approximately 73% of the full-year 2025 total.

Non-Ferrous Metals Sector Active on Strong Earnings

Non-ferrous metals stocks performed strongly.

Lingbao Gold Company Ltd (HKEX: 03330) rose 6.67% to HK$15.35, Jiangxi Copper Company Ltd (HKEX: 00358) climbed 3.65% to HK$31.22, China Hongqiao Group Ltd (HKEX: 01378) gained 3.08% to HK$20.74, and Zijin Mining Group Company Ltd (HKEX: 02899) added 1.97% to HK$30.

The sector's strength was underpinned by several companies forecasting first-half net profit growth exceeding 80% year-on-year.

Official data also showed that the profit growth rate for the non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling processing industry led all major industrial sectors for the January-May period.

Analysts suggest that the recent decline in leading A-share non-ferrous stocks was driven by valuation compression rather than deteriorating fundamentals, potentially creating a high-risk-reward trading opportunity.

Notable Individual Stock Movements

Two new listings debuted on the same day.

Nexchip Semiconductor Corporation (HKEX: 02249) ended flat at its listing price of HK$32.3, while Befar Group Co Ltd (HKEX: 06745) plunged 18.68% to HK$2.83.

PegBio Co Ltd (HKEX: 02565) surged 28.93% to HK$7.13 after announcing a memorandum of understanding with Nasdaq-listed Rani Therapeutics to explore collaboration on oral delivery technologies for its metabolic disease pipeline.

Leapmotor International Ltd (HKEX: 09863) advanced 6.79% to HK$37.74 following the announcement that it ranked first in Italy's pure electric vehicle market by registration volume in the first half of the year.

Huaqin Technology Co Ltd (HKEX: 03296) rose 5.74% to HK$70 on reports of a deep partnership with StepFun to manufacture an AI-powered smartphone, with mass deliveries expected in the second half of the year.

GigaDevice Semiconductor Inc (HKEX: 03986) fell sharply, closing down 21.05% at HK$742.5, ahead of the expiration of lock-up periods for cornerstone investors' shares next week, despite forecasting a significant year-on-year increase in first-half net profit.