On October 13 in the Hong Kong stock market, northbound trading recorded a net sell-off of HK$457 million. Among this, the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect saw a net buy of HK$44 million, while the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect recorded a net sell of HK$501 million.

The stocks with the largest net buys from northbound funds were Cambridge Technology (06166) and Kingboard Laminates (01888). The stocks with the largest net sells were SMIC (00981), Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable (06869), and Hua Hong Semiconductor (01347).

Among active stocks on the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect, AI hardware concept stocks showed divergence, with Cambridge Technology (06166) and Kingboard Laminates (01888) receiving net buys of HK$262 million and HK$172 million respectively, while Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable (06869) suffered a net sell of HK$429 million.

Broadcom CEO Hock Tan said on Monday at the DBS Bank Asia Future Summit in Singapore that the entire industry is accelerating infrastructure construction to support increasingly complex AI large models. Compared to semiconductors, memory chips, or power shortages, financing issues could become a greater obstacle to AI expansion. Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan also expressed concerns about financing issues.

CNOOC (00883) suffered a net sell of HK$146 million. The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued an announcement temporarily easing sanctions on Russian diesel trade, allowing Russian diesel to enter the global market, effective until April 7, 2027. Trump also announced that U.S. and Russian leaders reached an agreement on Russia supplying diesel to the U.S. and global markets. The Kremlin stated that consultations on an energy ceasefire mentioned by Trump are still ongoing.

GENSCRIPT BIO (01548) suffered a net sell of HK$229 million. From October 6 to October 12, U.S. AI pharmaceutical company Twist surged then pulled back over 25%. Industrial Securities believes that short-term disturbances from phased corrections in comparable U.S. companies do not diminish the long-term potential of the AI4S industry trend. The firm stated that AI4S demand will significantly increase in 2026, related investment and financing will remain active, upstream gene and protein synthesis suppliers will see rapid order and performance growth, and incremental demand is expected to extend downstream.

Hua Hong Semiconductor (01347) and SMIC (00981) suffered net sells of HK$302 million and HK$975 million respectively. CLSA released a research report stating that China's semiconductor demand remained stable in the third quarter, but upstream supply tightness dragged on deliveries. The firm said wafer foundries, driven by AI-related chip demand, overseas order回流, and domestic manufacturing, maintained high capacity utilization rates, with average selling prices continuing to rise quarter-over-quarter, but increased investment in new capacity and depreciation of advanced processes will constrain margin improvement.

Additionally, Alibaba-W (09988) and Tencent (00700) suffered net sells of HK$4.97 million and HK$18.65 million respectively.