Hong Kong Stocks Closing on June 12: HSI Up 1.93%, Non-Ferrous Metals & Airlines Lead Gains, Chow Tai Fook Surges 15% After Earnings
Miles Bennett
The Hang Seng Index rose 1.93% to 24,718 on June 12 after a dramatic reversal in Middle East tensions crushed oil prices, lifting metals and airline stocks — but the HSI still lost 0.98% for the week, leaving the rally's staying power in doubt.
Why did the market suddenly rally?
Trump first announced a "very violent" strike on Iran, then reversed course roughly five hours later, saying the deal is essentially finalized and may be signed in Europe over the weekend.
This means → war expectations flipped from escalation to de-escalation within hours, triggering a one-off repricing across risk assets.
Oil prices tumbled, inflation expectations eased sharply, and the two sectors most sensitive to fuel costs — airlines and metals — led the bounce.
Total turnover hit HK$316.4 billion; the HSCEI rose 1.91%, while the Hang Seng Tech Index gained only 1.06% — money clearly favored old-economy names.
How far did metals and airlines run?
Metals rallied across the board: Zijin Mining (02899) rose 7.9%, contributing 21.08 points to the HSI; China Moly (03993) jumped 12.17%, adding 11.81 points; Lingbao Gold surged 12.43%, Chifeng Gold 10.63%, Jiangxi Copper 8.89%.
Shenwan Hongyuan argues that rapid AI buildout is creating a hard supply gap in computing-related metals, and the long-term demand driver for precious and base metals remains intact. In plain terms = today's catalyst was cheaper oil, but the medium-term metals story is "AI needs more metal than mines can deliver."
Airlines followed: China Eastern rose 8.92%, Air China 5.71%, China Southern 5.56%. Guotai Haitong noted that China's jet-fuel ex-factory price was cut 15% in June, and summer-travel pre-sales have yet to open — falling oil costs should flow through to airline margins.
Why did Chow Tai Fook surge 15% in a single day?
Chow Tai Fook (01929) climbed 15.2% to HK$12.81, a three-month high, on turnover of HK$1.44 billion, contributing 5.16 points to the HSI.
Full-year results: revenue HK$94.4 billion, up 5.3% year-on-year; profit attributable to shareholders HK$9.0 billion, up 52.2%; final dividend HK$0.45 per share, bringing the full-year payout to HK$0.67, up 28.8%.
This means → profit growth far outpaced revenue growth, signaling significant gross-margin expansion during the gold-price upcycle; the generous dividend sent an immediate return-of-capital signal.
How did biotech and financials perform?
Innovative pharma stood out: GenScript Biotech rose 9.97%, InnoCare 7.25%, RemeGen 7.04%,康诺亚-B (02162) 5.49%.
Galaxy Securities notes that Hong Kong-listed biotech valuations have retreated to historic lows; the second half hinges on insurance-reimbursement variables and clinical-data readouts.
Brokerages and insurers joined the rally: CICC rose 6.05%, CITIC Securities 5.73%, New China Life 5.33%, China Merchants Securities 4.06%. Shenwan Hongyuan expects strong Q2 broker earnings and sees potential for a dual re-rating — earnings and valuation — in the second half.
Why didn't tech stocks keep up?
Large-cap tech recovered modestly — Alibaba gained over 2%, Tencent over 1% — but lagged old-economy sectors by a wide margin.
Semiconductors and PCB names opened high then faded: SMIC (00981) fell 2.25% to HK$71.65, dragging the HSI down 10.59 points; GigaDevice and Kingboard slid nearly 5%; solar and telecom names were also weak.
This reflects the day's core dynamic: the rally was driven by "cheaper oil + fading geopolitical risk." Tech lacked an independent catalyst, and capital rotated toward sectors with direct oil and inflation sensitivity.
The index still fell for the week — can the bounce last?
Despite today's jump, the HSI lost 0.98% for the week, the HSCEI 0.74%, and the HSTECH 3.75% — tech dragged hardest.
Notable movers: MiningLamp Technology-W surged 21.17%; Lygend Resources issued a profit alert forecasting H1 net profit growth of 57.3% to 74.8%, rising 8.55%; Li Auto climbed 7.24% ahead of the new Li Auto L8 launch on June 23.
Soochow Securities sees an attractive risk-reward in Hong Kong equities and believes the US AI trade broadening from hardware to software could pull HK stocks higher, projecting full-year EPS growth of 5% to 6% with room for valuation repair — but whether the market can sustain this catch-up momentum remains to be seen.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.