In the morning session, the three major indexes of the Hong Kong stock market continued to decline, and the market sentiment was very depressing. As of the midday break, the Hang Seng Index fell by 1.42%, the National Index fell by 1.73%, and the Hang Seng Tech Index fell by 1.49%. All three recorded a three-day decline.

On the market, large technology stocks continue to fall, and the market continues to be under pressure. Meituan fell nearly 5%, Baidu and Tencent fell more than 2%, Xiaomi fell nearly 2%, while Kuaishou, JD.com, and Alibaba all had declines; international gold and silver prices continue to fall, leading gold stocks and nonferrous metal stocks to decline, and Zhaojin Mining fell nearly 8%, the worst performer; concerns about demand pressure will cause oil prices to bear pressure, and finished oil may usher in a new round of price cuts, and petroleum stocks have fallen significantly, with three major oil companies plunging; overseas policies have a greater impact on sentiment than actual impact, and Morgan Stanley said that it is difficult to raise industry prices through promoting utilization, and semiconductor chip stocks continue to fall; high-yield concept stocks, middle letter stocks, and large financial stocks are mostly performing poorly. On the other hand, most biotech stocks rose against the trend, and the China Photovoltaic Industry Association issued six initiatives. The photovoltaic industry's domestic demand and exports were strong in June, and photovoltaic stocks generally rose. Fuyao Glass rose more than 8% and performed well in the weak market. Some real estate and sporting goods stocks rose slightly.

In terms of sectors,

Gold stocks collectively fell, and Zhaojin Mining fell nearly 8%. At today's symposium on the review of development and prospects of the photovoltaic industry in the first half of 2024, Wang Bohua, honorary chairman of the China Photovoltaic Industry Association, said that the adjustment of the photovoltaic industry should be heavy and fast. The current competition inside and outside the industry is fierce, and the industry needs to "travel light". The integration time should not be too long. It is necessary to promote the elimination of backward production capacity, encourage enterprise mergers and reorganizations, guide management departments to strengthen guidance for the construction of advanced production capacity, local governments should strictly control unreasonable rescue measures, enterprises should be cautious about new investments, and encourage targeted acquisition of new production capacity left by cross-border enterprises exiting the industry. Financial institutions should avoid injecting resources into capacity that is about to be cleared.

Three major oil companies have plummeted due to weak global demand. On the news front, oil prices stopped falling and rebounded because US crude and fuel inventories fell and the risks of crude oil production in Canada's wildfires continued to rise. However, due to concerns about weak global demand, oil prices are still close to their lowest level in six weeks. In addition, the window for a new round of price adjustments for refined oil products will open at 24:00 on July 25. According to the monitoring model of Zhuochuang Information, as of the close of July 23, the ninth working day, the change rate of reference crude oil for the domestic market was -2.87%, and it is predicted that the downward adjustment range of gasoline and diesel prices will be 125 yuan/ton, and the price of No. 92 gasoline and diesel will be lowered by 0.1 and 0.11 yuan respectively.

Global demand is weak, and the three major oil companies have plummeted. On the news front, oil prices stopped falling and rebounded because US crude and fuel inventories fell and the risks of crude oil production in Canada's wildfires continued to rise. However, due to concerns about weak global demand, oil prices are still close to their lowest level in six weeks. In addition, the window for a new round of price adjustments for refined oil products will open at 24:00 on July 25.

In terms of individual stocks,

Meitu surged nearly 10%, and is expected to achieve a year-on-year net profit growth of no less than 80% after adjustment in the medium term. The company announced last night that according to non-International Financial Reporting Standards, the adjusted net profit attributable to the company's owners for the six months ended June this year is expected to increase by no less than 80% year-on-year. If several non-cash and non-operating items are included, the net profit attributable to the owners of the company will increase by no less than 30% year-on-year. The announcement stated that the group's image and design product business, which is mainly charged through a subscription model for members, continues to grow rapidly, and this business has a high gross margin. Its rapid growth drives operating leverage, bringing higher profit growth. The revenue growth of this business is mainly due to the generated AI technology, which enhances the product power of images and design, providing users with better image and video processing, visual creative design and other functions, and continues to drive user payment; rapid globalization development: the group's image products are among the top of the application stores in many countries outside mainland China, driving both users and subscription members to grow.

China Cinda fell 6% to a three-month low, and net income in the first half of the year is expected to decline by 40%-50% year-on-year. The group announced that the net profit attributable to the company's shareholders for the six-month period ending June 30 this year is expected to decrease by about 40% to 50% compared to the same period last year. The company believes that the main reasons for the above changes are: the decrease in income from impaired debt assets measured using the amortized cost method due to changes in the market environment; and the increase in provision for credit risks due to changes in the macroeconomic situation, to cope with the pressure on the quality of some financial assets held by the company measured using the amortized cost method.

ASMPT fell for 2 consecutive days after its performance report, with a cumulative decline of nearly 30%, and its target price was lowered by several major banks, including Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. On the news front, the company announced its interim results as of the end of June on the morning of the 24th, with a net profit attributable to shareholders of HKD 0.315 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 49.64%, and earnings per share of HKD 0.76; an interim dividend of HKD 0.35. During the period, sales revenue was HKD 6.481 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 17.11%. As of the end of June, the total amount of outstanding orders was HKD 6.4 billion. For the second quarter alone, the net profit attributable to shareholders was HKD 0.135 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 56.08%, lower than market expectations, and earnings per share of HKD 0.33. Sales revenue was HKD 3.342 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 14.32%. The group expects sales revenue in the third quarter to be between USD 370 million and USD 430 million, with the midpoint representing a year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter decline of 9.9% and 6.4%, respectively. The quarter-on-quarter decrease is mainly due to the decrease in sales revenue of the surface mount technology solution segment. After the performance announcement, Goldman Sachs lowered ASMPT's target price from HKD 136.12 to HKD 117, but maintained a "buy" rating; Citigroup lowered ASMPT's target price from HKD 140 to HKD 110, and the corresponding forecast PE ratio for next year is about 23 times, maintaining a "buy" rating; Lyon also lowered ASMPT's target price from HKD 116 to HKD 80, and lowered its rating from "outperform" to "hold."