AGTECH HOLDINGS (08279) continues its remarkable rally, surging over 10% in Thursday's session, bringing its year-to-date gains to more than 500%. The stock was trading at HK$1.22, with turnover reaching HK$48.1458 million.

The surge comes as Hong Kong's gold imports in June hit their highest level since late 2014, with customs data showing inflows exceeding 130 tonnes. The spike in imports is attributed to preparations for a gold clearing system, alongside strong demand from mainland China.

HSBC's Peter Lui recently reaffirmed the bank's plans to expand its gold storage capacity in Hong Kong to 200 tonnes, supporting the government's target of building 2,000 tonnes of gold storage capacity. Notably, on July 7, Hong Kong's Gold Central Clearing and Settlement System began trial operations.

AGTECH HOLDINGS's subsidiary TGX has established a joint venture with the Hong Kong Gold Exchange to develop a core platform for precious metals electronic trading, clearing, and settlement. The company plans to migrate its existing business operations to this new platform.