HK Stock Close: Hang Seng Index Up 0.16%, Memory Stocks Plunge, Oil & Gas Stocks Active
Alina Collins
The Hang Seng eked out a 0.16% gain to 24,213 on July 13, but the session split sharply — memory stocks cratered after two circuit breakers in Seoul, while oil and gas names surged on escalating U.S.-Iran strikes.
How did the three main indexes finish?
The Hang Seng Index flipped green late in the session, closing up 0.16% at 24,213.72 on turnover of HK$309.5 billion.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 0.33% to 8,065.97; the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 0.96% to 4,676.43.
This means → the broad market barely held gains, while tech dragged — sentiment was far from unified.
Which blue chips led and which lagged?
China Hongqiao (01378) topped the blue-chip board, up 3.57% to HK$21.48, adding 3.97 points to the HSI. The company guided first-half net profit up roughly 39% year-on-year, driven by higher aluminium-alloy selling prices.
Longfor Group (00960) rose 3.28%; China Resources Beer (00291) gained 3.24%.
China Life (02628) fell 3.17%, dragging the HSI down 10.26 points; Xinyi Glass (00868) dropped 2.93%.
Why did memory stocks crash?
South Korea's market triggered two circuit breakers on the day. SK Hynix closed down 15.37% — its largest single-day drop on record — and Samsung Electronics fell more than 10%.
Korean broker KIS cut its Q2 forecast for SK Hynix: estimated operating margin at 65%, down 8 percentage points quarter-on-quarter, because high-bandwidth memory (HBM — high-speed memory built for AI chips) made up a larger share of shipments while its average selling price sat below the market mean.
This means → HBM volumes are growing, but each unit sells cheap, squeezing margins. The market fears the memory sector is growing revenue without growing profit.
Hong Kong-listed memory proxies tumbled in sympathy: CSOP 2x Long Hynix (07709) fell 33%, GigaDevice (03986) dropped 15.29%, Montage Technology (06809) lost 5.19%. PCB, optical-communications, and other AI hardware names also sold off broadly.
How did the U.S.-Iran conflict lift oil and gas stocks?
The U.S. military struck multiple sites in Iran on July 12 — the fourth round of attacks in a week. Iran responded early on July 13 with a large-scale drone and missile strike on U.S. military targets in the Gulf.
Iran earlier declared the Strait of Hormuz "closed indefinitely," though U.S. Central Command said the waterway remained open to all vessels. WTI crude futures jumped as much as 5%.
Oil-services stocks rallied: Petro-King Oilfield Services (02178) surged 16.47%, Shandong Molong (00568) gained 11.18%, COSL (02883) rose 2.93%. Airline and gold stocks came under pressure from the elevated geopolitical risk.
What other sectors and movers stood out?
Traditional Chinese medicine advanced: Luye Pharma (02186) rose 8.33%, Shineway Pharmaceutical (02877) gained 3.13%. The catalyst: the State Council approved in principle the "15th Five-Year Plan for TCM Revitalisation," and a new National Essential Medicines List (2026 edition) was issued — the first full update since 2018, covering 794 drugs with 116 additions, and for the first time including innovative drugs in the selection criteria.
Notable movers up: True Health Medical-B (02697) hit an all-time high, up 31.61% — its core product is a percutaneous puncture surgical robot with a 28% China market share (by 2025 revenue, per Frost & Sullivan). SiC chipmaker Basic Semiconductor (09971) rose 10.29% after announcing price hikes of up to 25% on selected products.
Notable movers down: YOFC (06869) fell 12.58% on fears that multiple companies expanding optical-fibre preform capacity will intensify supply pressure. GAC Group (02238) dropped 6.85% after guiding a first-half net loss of RMB 4.06–4.57 billion, up 60–80% year-on-year.
What does the sell-side say about the outlook?
Huatai Securities recommends focusing on fundamental factors: with geopolitical tensions and rising U.S. Treasury yields creating persistent noise, earnings visibility — not valuation — is likely the key driver of quarterly performance.
In plain terms = this is not the time to bet on a valuation re-rating; sectors where you can clearly see who is earning money, and how much, are the safer ground.
Near-term, Huatai highlights sectors with upward earnings revisions and short-interest at historical highs: non-bank financials, transport, power utilities, electronics, telecom, plus alpha opportunities around innovative-drug and AI-software earnings seasons.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.