Northbound funds | Northbound trading recorded a net buying of 7.609 billion RMB, triggering a wave of price hikes in wafer foundries. Northbound trading rapidly raised more than 4.1 billion Hong Kong dollars to invest in Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (00981).

On May 28, the Hong Kong stock market saw a net buy of 7.609 billion Hong Kong dollars by Northbound investors. Among them, the net buy through the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect was 7.561 billion Hong Kong dollars, while the net sell through the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect was 0.48 billion Hong Kong dollars. The top three stocks with the most net buy by Northbound investors were Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (00981), POP MART (09992), and HUA HONG SEMI (01347). The top three stocks with the most net sell by Northbound investors were BABA-W (09988), YOFC (06869), and Tencent (00700). Northbound investors were once again clamoring for chip stocks. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (00981) and HUA HONG SEMI (01347) received a net buy of 4.174 billion and 0.811 billion Hong Kong dollars respectively. On the news front, the global wafer foundry price hike trend is accelerating, with TSMC announcing a 15% price increase for 3nm process and UMC planning to selectively raise prices by about 10% in the second half of 2026, followed by a comprehensive negotiation in 2027. The consecutive price hike signals from the two major wafer foundries indicate that the pricing cycle of the foundry industry is systematically moving up. POP MART (09992) received a net buy of 1.12 billion Hong Kong dollars. According to HKEX disclosure, renowned investor Duan Yongping increased his holdings in POP MART through H&H International Investment from 4.96% to 5.69%, triggering a mandatory disclosure requirement. Following this equity change, Duan Yongping has become the second largest shareholder of POP MART. MEITUAN-W (03690) received a net buy of 0.672 billion Hong Kong dollars. According to reports, rumors of mass layoffs at Meituan were clarified by company staff, stating that the news was false information. Morgan Stanley released a research report stating that following Alibaba's commitment to significantly narrow its losses in instant retail, the clarity of Meituan's roadmap to profitability has significantly increased. The bank believes that the faster-than-expected narrowing of losses in the delivery business will bring upward risk. CNOOC (00883) received a net buy of 0.516 billion Hong Kong dollars. According to reports, the Public Relations Department of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran announced that in the early morning of the 28th, American military carried out an airstrike in the outskirts of Abbas Port, and subsequently the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted the US air force base that launched the attack. The market is once again concerned that commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz may be disrupted. DONGYUE GROUP (00189) received a net buy of 0.451 billion Hong Kong dollars. Reports indicate that Europe and America are planning to slow down the reduction of HFC refrigerants. The largest refrigeration and air conditioning wholesaler in the UK announced a 60% price increase for R410A refrigerants; the UK's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced a delay in its proposed gradual reduction of fluorinated gases; the US Environmental Protection Agency officially finalized revisions to the "2023 Technology Transition Rule," extending the compliance period for third-generation refrigerants and relaxing related usage restrictions. Guolian Minsheng Securities pointed out that a global refrigerant replenishment market scenario may be brewing. Tencent (00700) and BABA-W (09988) suffered a net sell of 17.96 million and 1.303 billion Hong Kong dollars respectively. It is reported that several companies are re-evaluating the return on investment in AI, with Uber exhausting its annual AI budget within months; Microsoft has discontinued Claude Code and shifted towards the internal Copilot CLI. Tencent and Alibaba have also simultaneously released signals of increased AI capital expenditure. Guolian Minsheng Securities believes that AI commercialization has entered the validation stage, with the focus of competition shifting from technological and computational expansion to heavy-asset competition centered around capital expenditure efficiency. Additionally, Xpeng Motors-W (09868) and 51WORLD (06651) received a net buy of 0.393 billion and 88.2 million Hong Kong dollars respectively. YOFC (06869) suffered a net sell of 0.212 billion Hong Kong dollars.