Hong Kong stocks continued their upward trend with modest gains, closing 0.31% higher amid reduced trading volume. With recent U.S. economic data falling short of expectations, markets are seeking new catalysts, with China-related developments emerging as a key focus. U.S. Treasury Secretary emphasized that U.S.-China relations could be highly productive, advocating for fair competition and avoiding decoupling. Reports indicate the U.S. President will visit Beijing in early April, reinforcing market expectations that cooperation benefits both sides. Meanwhile, cross-strait tensions resurfaced as Taiwan affairs officials warned against provocations during the Lunar New Year period.
International gold prices strengthened further, with spot gold rising 0.26% to $5,051 per ounce, firmly holding above the $5,000 threshold. The U.S. dollar index fell 0.78% to 96.80, supporting dollar-denominated gold. Continuous gold purchases by the People's Bank of China provided additional stimulus. Leading gold producers outperformed, with Zijin Gold International (02259) surging over 9%, Lingbao Gold (03330) gaining nearly 8%, and Zijin Mining (02899) advancing close to 3%.
The PBOC's Q4 2025 monetary policy report emphasized flexible use of reserve requirement ratio cuts and interest rate adjustments to maintain proper policy implementation. Property stocks benefited most from this outlook, with China Vanke (02202) rallying nearly 3% late in the session amid speculation of supportive measures.
Large-cap AI concept stocks that gained yesterday, including China Literature (00772) and Fubo Group (03738), underwent corrections due to excessive short-term gains. The rotation shifted to undervalued players like Kingsoft Cloud (03896), which launched its AI Model Application Firewall capable of real-time detection of prompt injections, inappropriate content, and computational abuse. Goldman Sachs research expects Kingsoft Cloud to update its transaction agreement with Xiaomi by mid-year, potentially raising revenue caps by 10-15% for 2026-2027, implying a 37% CAGR from 2025-2028. Growing demand for AI agent applications requiring more tokens is expected to drive cloud business growth, sending the stock up over 7%.
Hong Kong's Chief Executive announced at the Consensus Hong Kong conference that the Hong Kong Monetary Authority is actively processing license applications, with the first batch of stablecoin issuer licenses expected next month. Synagistics (02562), which previously announced plans to acquire leading companies in AI, blockchain, DeFi, and stablecoin sectors with revenue guarantees, surged nearly 39%. Other beneficiaries included Guotai Junan International (01788) and UBox Online (02429), both rising over 5%.
Soaring AI chip demand has created supply constraints for high-end fiberglass fabrics, with NVIDIA and AMD consuming capacity previously allocated to consumer electronics clients. Leading fiberglass producers raised prices for electronic fabrics on February 4, with larger increases and shorter cycles. CCL suppliers are adjusting prices to pass on rising costs of fiberglass, copper, and resin. This price transmission chain is extending to copper-clad laminates, sending KB LAMINATES (01888) up over 11% and Kingboard Holdings (00148) gaining over 4%.
Other industrial materials followed the rally. Rare earth magnet prices accelerated, with praseodymium-neodymium oxide and metal rising 7.59% and 6.27% respectively on February 9, bringing year-to-date gains to 34%. JL Mag Rare-Earth (06680) advanced nearly 5%. Tungsten prices climbed due to supply constraints from stricter mine safety and environmental controls. Zhangyuan Tungsten raised prices for black tungsten concentrate by 147,000 yuan/ton. JIAXIN INTL RES (03858), which commenced commercial production at its Bakuta tungsten mine in April 2025 and returned to profitability last year, surged over 11%.
MSCI announced its quarterly index adjustments effective February 27, adding 21 Chinese companies to its global small-cap index, including Anjoy Foods, AutoHome, BioMap, BLOKS, China Comservice, and TS Lines. BioMap (02315) gained attention through multiple out-licensing deals with leading pharmaceutical companies and IND approvals, potentially generating milestone payments, rising over 5%. TS Lines (02510) benefited from sustained Southeast Asian demand and peak season freight rate rebounds, advancing over 4%. New additions to the MSCI China Index, including SenseTime-W (00020), Hesai-W (02525), and Pony.ai (02026), also performed well.
Indonesia's Energy Ministry issued 2026 nickel mining quotas of 260-270 million tons, significantly below last year's 379 million tons target. Shanghai nickel futures rose over 4% to 139,670 yuan/ton on February 11, suggesting further nickel price increases. Key Hong Kong-listed nickel players include LYGEND RESOURCE (02245), Xinjiang Xinxin Mining (03833), and CNGR Advanced Material (02579).
Bilibili (09626) gained attention as B站 creators participated in Spring Festival Gala planning and documentary production for the first time. The company stands to benefit from lowered barriers for AI audio-visual tools like Seedance, Kling, and Suno, which could drive exponential growth in PUGC content, particularly in knowledge technology, anime, and music. As major players compete for AI-to-consumer traffic, AI applications are expected to become core advertising growth drivers for Bilibili. Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen sponsored Bilibili's New Year Eve event, with Tongyi, Quark, and Aifou leading recent ad spending, followed by ByteDance's Doubao and Jimeng. Bilibili remains one of the few internet platforms maintaining double-digit total time growth in Q1-Q3 2025, with increased algorithm weighting for medium-length content suggesting above-market DAU and engagement growth potential. Gaming segment contributions are expected to accelerate in 2026, with "Three Kingdoms Generals: Cards" potentially launching in H1 2026 featuring skill-based card gameplay, while "Escape from Yakof" mobile and console versions may debut in H2 2026.