Hong Kong stocks opened lower and extended losses during the session, with the Hang Seng Tech Index falling by 2.7% at one point. However, the AI application sector showed notable strength, with Knowledge Atlas surging as much as 25% during trading.

On February 20, the three major Hong Kong stock indices opened slightly lower: the Hang Seng Index fell 0.18%, the Hang Seng Tech Index declined 0.69%, and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index dropped 0.19%. The market continued to trend downward, with the Hang Seng Index losing over 1% and the Hang Seng Tech Index briefly dropping by 2.7%. By the time of writing, the declines in the major indices had narrowed but the market remained predominantly in negative territory.

In terms of sector performance, media and consumer sectors were broadly lower in the morning session. Declines were also seen in automotive, chemical, and hardware equipment sectors. In contrast, oil and petrochemicals, semiconductors, and enterprise services sectors bucked the trend and moved higher, while the AI application sector performed strongly.

Media and consumer sectors faced downward pressure. During the morning session, Hong Kong media stocks were weak, with Damai Entertainment falling over 6%, NetEase Cloud Music and China Literature declining more than 5%, and Tencent Music dropping nearly 4%.

Within the consumer sector, discretionary consumption, daily consumption, and durable goods sectors all saw collective declines. Alibaba fell over 4% during trading, Pop Mart dropped more than 3%, and Laopu Gold declined over 4%.

Recently, Laopu Gold issued a price adjustment notice, indicating that product prices will be revised on February 28, 2026. Details of the adjustment will be based on the actual listed prices online and offline. This adjustment is expected to be the company's first price change in 2026.

The AI application sector continued its upward trend from before the holiday. During the morning session, Haizhi Technology Group surged over 28% at the opening, reaching a high of HK$154.4 per share, setting a new record since its listing.

Knowledge Atlas saw its share price rise to a peak of HK$635 per share, a gain of 25%, with its total market capitalization exceeding HK$270 billion.

MINIMAX also advanced strongly, rising over 15% during trading to reach a high of HK$980 per share.

Online commentators expressed amazement, with some noting the exaggerated gains and describing the movement as surreal.

On the news front, according to information from Sugon, its SothisAI platform was recently upgraded to fully integrate Knowledge Atlas's GLM-5 and Alibaba's Qwen3.5 large models. The upgrade aims to simplify and optimize the construction and operation of enterprise AI platforms, helping clients unlock the potential of domestically developed open-source large models.

Additionally, domestic AI chip company Taichu (Wuxi) Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., also known as Taichu Yuanqi, has completed deep adaptation work for several mainstream domestic open-source large models, including Knowledge Atlas's GLM-5.0 and Alibaba's Qwen3.5-397B-A17B.

Furthermore, the Seedance 2.0 large model made its debut using the Spring Festival Gala as its first public application scenario, deeply involved in visual production for multiple programs. The innovative model of "AI-generated imagery + real-stage extension" used in this year's gala sparked widespread discussion online, with Seedance 2.0 serving as the core technical support.

A recent research report from China Merchants Securities pointed out that the AI application sector is currently experiencing simultaneous breakthroughs in technology and deepening commercialization competition. Core technological advancements in AI applications are emerging. Combined with the "AI Plus" initiative as a national medium-to-long-term development strategy, the industry enjoys solid long-term support. Although index valuations are somewhat elevated, driven by both industrial trends and policy benefits, further upside potential remains promising.