May 26, 2026, 15:15 GMT+7
Reuters - The Hong Kong stock market, which reopened on Tuesday after a public holiday, ended flat as excitement toward chipmaking overcame jitters around Beijing's crackdown on illegal cross-border trading.
Shanghai stocks dipped as tech shares corrected, but big investment banks led blue-chips higher on bets they will benefit from regulators' clamp-down on brokers moving Chinese money offshore without a license.
China on Friday launched an industry-wide crackdown on illegal cross-border investment, and punished online brokers Tiger, Futu and Longbridge.
The campaign, which requires a wind-down of illegitimate trading accounts in two years, could affect as much as HK$294 billion ($37.53 billion) in Hong Kong, Kaiyuan Securities estimates.
Yuan Yuwei, hedge fund manager at Trinity Synergy Investments, said China's tighter capital control could hit Hong Kong-listed small-caps, but the impact on the broader market would be limited.
"I believe we are still in a big bull run underpinned by hard technology," he said.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Indexswung between losses and gains before ending the session flat.
China's blue-chip CSI300 Indexrose 0.5% while the Shanghai Composite Indexdropped 0.2%.
An index of Hong Kong small-caps - which are vulnerable to reduced liquidity - fell 2%. Shares of Bright Smart, a small broker in Hong Kong, tumbled 5%.
But China Securities Co jumped 4% in Hong Kongand 6% in Shanghai. Other major Chinese investment banks , including China International Capital Coand China Galaxy Securitiesalso rose sharply.
"Demand for global asset allocation will persist, but increasingly shift toward compliant channels," Guotai Haitong Securities said in a report, recommending major brokers with a global footprint and stakes in top mutual fund companies.
Mood in Hong Kong was also aided by a frenzy around chipmaking, after Chinese tech champion Huawei Technologies said on Monday it will make industry-leading semiconductors using a new technology in five years.
An index tracking Hong Kong-listed chipmakerssurged 6%, led by Chinese chip giants Hua Hong Semiconductorand Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.
"I'm very bullish toward SMIC . It's China's answer to TSMC ," fund manager Yuan said, referring to the Taiwanese chip foundry.
" SMIC 's strategic importance is even greater than companies like PetroChina and CATL ."
In China, tech sharescorrected after Monday's jump.
($1 = 7.8342 Hong Kong dollars)

Sumber : Reuters