[ET Net News Agency, 01 June 2026] China's official manufacturing PMI for May stood at 50, falling to the boom-or-bust line, reflecting a slowdown in manufacturing, but the services PMI returned to expansion territory. Regional stock markets moved higher, and Hong Kong stocks also rose, driven by traditional tech and internet stocks, with the HSI up 220 points, or 0.9%, to 25,402 at midday, on a main board turnover of over HKD 195.2 billion. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 88 points, or 1%, to 8,514. The Hang Seng Tech Index rose 88 points, or 1.8%, to 4,972.
"Nip Chun Pong: HSI to fluctuate within range, little chance of breaking below 25,000"
Asia-Pacific stock markets moved mixed today, with Korean, Taiwanese and Japanese stocks maintaining their strength. Mainland China's manufacturing PMI, both official and non-official data, fell month-on-month, with the official PMI falling to the boom-or-bust line of 50, resulting in sluggish performance in A-shares. The HSI softened in early trading, but later reversed and turned upwards, rising by more than 300 points at most. Nip Chun Pong, the Chief Strategist at Solo Securities, told ET Net News Agency that the outlook for a US-Iran ceasefire is fraught with uncertainty, but US stocks still rose last Friday, with the three major indices continuing to hit record highs. Although Mainland China's latest PMI data was not ideal, Hong Kong stocks chased laggards from low levels. The HSI had once fallen to 24,727 points intraday last Thursday, but closed back above the 25,000 psychological mark. Judging from the market reaction last week, there is temporary support at 25,000 points, and there is little incentive for a further downward breakdown.
Nip Chun Pong further pointed out that the recent series of crackdowns by Mainland China's regulatory authorities on cross-border stock trading has more or less affected investment sentiment. Although there has been an influx of funds into new consumer stocks recently, with IP-related stock Pop Mart rising sharply, and tea beverage leader Mixue Group (02097), cosmetics brand Mao Geping (01318), and Lao Pu Gold (06181) rebounding from low levels recently, these related shares have little impact on the HSI and limited driving force for the broader market. Heavyweight tech stocks such as Tencent (00700) and Alibaba (09988) have still not shaken off their recent weakness, and the ups and downs of these shares have a greater impact on the HSI. Nip Chun Pong expects that the HSI will still fluctuate within the 25,000 to 25,600 range, and resistance is expected near the 250-day moving average (around 27,000). The HSI needs to stand firm at that level to confirm that it has shaken off its recent weakness.
"Akeso's valuation explosion makes it an aggressive choice"
Akeso (09926) announced that more than 40 research results of its innovative drugs, including ivonescimab (PD-1/VEGF), cadonilimab (PD-1/CTLA-4), and ligufalimab (AK117), were published at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. Among them, the results of the phase III HARMONi-6 study of ivonescimab combined with chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for advanced squamous non-small cell lung cancer (sq-NSCLC) were selected for presentation at the ASCO Plenary Session and simultaneously published in the internationally authoritative medical journal The Lancet.
Akeso's share price once rose by more than 12%, reaching a more than 10-day high and breaking through multiple moving averages. However, the share price met with pressure at high levels, and the intraday gain narrowed significantly. Nip Chun Pong expressed that the selection of Akeso's research results for presentation at the ASCO Plenary Session this time is of great significance. Publishing research or trial results at ASCO is a watershed for the commercialisation of new drugs; if a drug can gain recognition, it can be sold to overseas markets, becoming the final stage of commercialisation.
However, Nip Chun Pong stated that because innovative pharmaceutical enterprises invest heavily in research and development, even if a new drug is successfully launched eventually and revenue increases significantly, it does not necessarily mean the pharmaceutical enterprise's profit will increase correspondingly, which depends on the amount of funds the enterprise invested in R&D that year. Although Akeso's revenue last year jumped 44% year-on-year, its losses were still widening. Nip Chun Pong believes that Akeso is representative in the field of innovative drugs, second only to the Wuxi series and BeOne Medicines (06160), and the commercialisation process of its new oncological drugs is ideal. Investors still have confidence in its prospects, so the share price has support at low levels. Akeso's low share price in March was around HKD 93, but it rose to HKD 156 in April. The current share price is about half of the cumulative gain during that period, and aggressive investors might absorb it at the current level. As the stock's low last week was around HKD 110, conservative investors can wait there, and it would be relatively safer to buy in when it retraces to HKD 115.
"Nip Chun Pong: HSI to fluctuate within range, little chance of breaking below 25,000"
Asia-Pacific stock markets moved mixed today, with Korean, Taiwanese and Japanese stocks maintaining their strength. Mainland China's manufacturing PMI, both official and non-official data, fell month-on-month, with the official PMI falling to the boom-or-bust line of 50, resulting in sluggish performance in A-shares. The HSI softened in early trading, but later reversed and turned upwards, rising by more than 300 points at most. Nip Chun Pong, the Chief Strategist at Solo Securities, told ET Net News Agency that the outlook for a US-Iran ceasefire is fraught with uncertainty, but US stocks still rose last Friday, with the three major indices continuing to hit record highs. Although Mainland China's latest PMI data was not ideal, Hong Kong stocks chased laggards from low levels. The HSI had once fallen to 24,727 points intraday last Thursday, but closed back above the 25,000 psychological mark. Judging from the market reaction last week, there is temporary support at 25,000 points, and there is little incentive for a further downward breakdown.
Nip Chun Pong further pointed out that the recent series of crackdowns by Mainland China's regulatory authorities on cross-border stock trading has more or less affected investment sentiment. Although there has been an influx of funds into new consumer stocks recently, with IP-related stock Pop Mart rising sharply, and tea beverage leader Mixue Group (02097), cosmetics brand Mao Geping (01318), and Lao Pu Gold (06181) rebounding from low levels recently, these related shares have little impact on the HSI and limited driving force for the broader market. Heavyweight tech stocks such as Tencent (00700) and Alibaba (09988) have still not shaken off their recent weakness, and the ups and downs of these shares have a greater impact on the HSI. Nip Chun Pong expects that the HSI will still fluctuate within the 25,000 to 25,600 range, and resistance is expected near the 250-day moving average (around 27,000). The HSI needs to stand firm at that level to confirm that it has shaken off its recent weakness.
"Akeso's valuation explosion makes it an aggressive choice"
Akeso (09926) announced that more than 40 research results of its innovative drugs, including ivonescimab (PD-1/VEGF), cadonilimab (PD-1/CTLA-4), and ligufalimab (AK117), were published at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting. Among them, the results of the phase III HARMONi-6 study of ivonescimab combined with chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for advanced squamous non-small cell lung cancer (sq-NSCLC) were selected for presentation at the ASCO Plenary Session and simultaneously published in the internationally authoritative medical journal The Lancet.
Akeso's share price once rose by more than 12%, reaching a more than 10-day high and breaking through multiple moving averages. However, the share price met with pressure at high levels, and the intraday gain narrowed significantly. Nip Chun Pong expressed that the selection of Akeso's research results for presentation at the ASCO Plenary Session this time is of great significance. Publishing research or trial results at ASCO is a watershed for the commercialisation of new drugs; if a drug can gain recognition, it can be sold to overseas markets, becoming the final stage of commercialisation.
However, Nip Chun Pong stated that because innovative pharmaceutical enterprises invest heavily in research and development, even if a new drug is successfully launched eventually and revenue increases significantly, it does not necessarily mean the pharmaceutical enterprise's profit will increase correspondingly, which depends on the amount of funds the enterprise invested in R&D that year. Although Akeso's revenue last year jumped 44% year-on-year, its losses were still widening. Nip Chun Pong believes that Akeso is representative in the field of innovative drugs, second only to the Wuxi series and BeOne Medicines (06160), and the commercialisation process of its new oncological drugs is ideal. Investors still have confidence in its prospects, so the share price has support at low levels. Akeso's low share price in March was around HKD 93, but it rose to HKD 156 in April. The current share price is about half of the cumulative gain during that period, and aggressive investors might absorb it at the current level. As the stock's low last week was around HKD 110, conservative investors can wait there, and it would be relatively safer to buy in when it retraces to HKD 115.
