On the morning of February 12, 2026, the overall Hong Kong stock market experienced a correction, with the technology sector leading the decline. This movement occurred against a backdrop of cooling interest rate cut expectations, driven by unexpectedly strong US non-farm payroll data for January released by the Federal Reserve.
Recently, leading Hong Kong-listed internet companies have been aggressively competing for AI application traffic during the Spring Festival period, investing billions of yuan in red envelope subsidies. On February 10, 2026, following initiatives by Yuanbao and Qianwen, ByteDance's AI application Doubao launched its "Doubao Celebrates Chinese New Year" event, joining the competitive AI red envelope battle. The intensifying competition in AI applications is expected to drive large-scale, mass adoption of AI. Furthermore, the rapid domestic and international popularity of Seedance2.0 is significantly impacting the competitive AI application landscape, potentially forcing industry-wide acceleration in innovation and increased investment, thereby opening new growth avenues for the AI sector.
The Hong Kong technology sector, which comprises many unique companies, is poised to benefit from this reinforced AI narrative. Consequently, capital is quietly flowing into related assets. Wind data shows that the popular Hang Seng Tech ETF (513130) has attracted over 38 billion yuan in additional investments since February 2026, making it the only ETF in the A-share market during this period to achieve net inflows exceeding 30 billion yuan.
The Hang Seng Tech Index, the underlying index for the Hang Seng Tech ETF (513130), is a representative index of the Hong Kong technology sector. It aggregates a group of technology companies with core competitiveness and growth potential. Its top five constituents are Alibaba-W, SMIC, BYD Co., Meituan-W, and Xiaomi Group-W. The index's valuation is currently in a historically low range, with a latest price-to-earnings ratio of only 22.68 times, placing it at the 30.77th percentile over the past five years. Against a backdrop of increased southbound capital inflows, recovering liquidity conditions, and intensified AI competition, the index is positioned for potential valuation and earnings recovery.
HuaTai Bairui Fund, the manager of the Hang Seng Tech ETF (513130), is one of China's first ETF managers. Beyond sector-specific ETFs, the firm has deep expertise in broad-market and dividend-themed indices. Its "Dividend Suite" includes the Dividend ETF (510880), the Low Volatility Dividend ETF HuaTai Bairui (512890), the Hong Kong Stock Connect Dividend ETF HuaTai Bairui (513530), the Central Enterprise Dividend ETF HuaTai Bairui (561580), and the Hong Kong Stock Connect Low Volatility Dividend ETF HuaTai Bairui (520890). These products could serve as viable defensive options within a "barbell strategy".
A MACD golden cross signal has formed, indicating positive momentum for certain stocks.