On April 17, mainland investors recorded a net purchase of HK$17.01 billion in the Hong Kong stock market through the Southbound Stock Connect channels. Specifically, the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect saw net buying of HK$12.412 billion, while the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect recorded net buying of HK$4.598 billion.

The top net purchased stocks by mainland investors were the Tracker Fund (02800), the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index ETF (02828), and CHINA MOBILE (00941). Conversely, CIG (06166) was the most net sold stock.

Mainland investors seized the opportunity to buy Hong Kong-listed ETFs on market dips. The Tracker Fund (02800), the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index ETF (02828), and the CSOP Hang Seng Tech Index ETF (03033) received net inflows of HK$4.075 billion, HK$1.288 billion, and HK$486 million, respectively. According to Industrial Securities, despite potential ongoing geopolitical tensions, April could present a window for bullish strategies in Hong Kong stocks. Factors include a global shift in equity markets from risk-off back to risk-on sentiment. As safe-haven demand and oil prices peak and recede, the US dollar is likely to give back gains previously driven by overly pessimistic geopolitical uncertainty and liquidity tightening expectations. Furthermore, the release of new AI models from TENCENT and DeepSeek, alongside key political meetings and anticipated visits, are expected to reverse the pessimistic valuations currently reflected in Hong Kong stocks.

CHINA MOBILE (00941) attracted net buying of HK$912 million. The company has, for the first time in its financial reports, clearly defined its main business segments as communications services, computing power services, and intelligent services. Revenue from computing power services reached RMB 89.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 11.1%, identified as a key growth driver for high-quality development. Benefiting from surging demand for intelligent computing, its AI computing services grew by 279%, driving a 13.9% increase in cloud computing service revenue.

CNOOC (00883) saw net inflows of HK$764 million. The international crude oil market is gradually shifting from the panic-driven "premium-bound" trading seen in March back towards pricing based on fundamentals. However, a return to fundamental pricing does not necessarily imply lower oil prices. UBS Group believes that if strait closures persist until the end of April, international oil prices could potentially reach $130 per barrel, significantly increasing the risk of a global economic recession.

POP MART (09992) received net buying of HK$618 million. Bank of America Securities noted that POP MART is expected to release its operational update for the first quarter in mid-May. Revenue for the period is projected to grow approximately 80% year-on-year, surpassing market expectations of 50-100%. The primary variance is attributed to performance in overseas markets, particularly the US and EU, while the mainland China market is expected to remain resilient. Recently, prominent investor Duan Yongping has frequently mentioned POP MART, publicly stating, "My POP MART insurance company is officially open for business," drawing significant market attention.

The optical communication sector showed significant divergence. YOFC (06869) attracted net buying of HK$615 million, while CIG (06166) experienced net selling of HK$120 million. This follows news that Zhongji Innolight's first-quarter revenue nearly tripled year-on-year, with net profit surging 262%. Recently, global optical communication leader Lumentum indicated that, amid strong demand from data centers, its current production capacity is insufficient to meet demand, and it expects capacity for 2028 to be fully sold out within two quarters. Goldman Sachs expressed optimism for the optical communication network sector, citing the evolution of data center architecture from horizontal to vertical scaling, which demands higher bandwidth and more connections, significantly expanding the overall addressable market.

XIAOMI-W (01810) garnered net inflows of HK$245 million. On April 17, Lei Jun, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Xiaomi Group, stated plainly during a live stream that Xiaomi will not produce electric vehicle models priced below RMB 100,000 in the coming years. The reason cited is that achieving high levels of intelligence in EVs incurs higher costs, making it difficult to keep prices within that threshold.

BABA-W (09988) received net buying of HK$190 million. On April 15, Alibaba Cloud, a subsidiary of Alibaba, announced that to ensure stable supply of underlying hardware, enhance platform operation and maintenance service quality, and respond to cost changes in the computing power market, it will moderately adjust service prices for some Model Unit (MU) services. The adjustment affects the large model service platform Bailian, with price increases ranging from 2% to 7%.

TENCENT (00700) attracted net inflows of HK$154 million. On April 16, according to its official social media account, TENCENT open-sourced and officially released its Hunyuan 3D World Model 2.0 (HY-World 2.0). Reportedly, HY-World 2.0 is a multimodal world model capable of automatically generating, reconstructing, and simulating 3D worlds based on various inputs like text, images, and videos. It supports exporting multiple 3D asset formats and seamless integration with existing game development workflows for rapid generation of game maps and level prototypes.

Additionally, Akeso (09926) and SMIC (00981) received net buying of HK$9.8 million and HK$4.95 million, respectively.