- Geopolitical risks intertwined with corporate performance, the Asia-Pacific stock markets showed a V-shaped recovery after experiencing significant intraday volatility, with the Hang Seng Tech Index leading the gains.
- Meituan's first-quarter revenue grew by 5.6% and losses narrowed significantly, coupled with Tencent's upcoming launch of the WeChat AI assistant, driving a broad rally in Hong Kong tech stocks.
- Uncertainty in the Middle East initially pressured South Korean and Japanese stock markets downward, but as negotiation expectations warmed, major indices recovered losses in the afternoon.
Geopolitical Situations Trigger Intraday Market Fluctuations
The Asia-Pacific equity markets showed a volatile trend of first declining and then rising on Tuesday. Affected by the fluctuating US-Iran situation, energy supply risks in the Strait of Hormuz once again suppressed market risk appetite. As South Korea relies on the Middle East for about 70% of its crude oil imports, energy concerns led to declines in the South Korean and Japanese stock markets during the morning session. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell by more than 3% intraday, with valuation adjustments seen in heavyweight stocks like LG Group and memory chip giant SK Hynix. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index also briefly fell below the 66,000-point mark. Subsequently, as news emerged that US-Iran negotiations might get back on track, risk aversion quickly eased, and the South Korean and Japanese stock markets recovered their losses in the afternoon, with the overall market turning positive. Samsung Electronics (005930:KS) even hit a record high intraday.
Dual Catalysts of Tech Giants' Performance and AI Applications
Compared to the volatility in the South Korean and Japanese stock markets, Hong Kong and A-shares showed stronger resilience. The Hang Seng Tech Index (HSTECH) saw an intraday gain of over 4%, with tech stocks showing a broad strengthening trend. Meituan (03690:HK) and Tencent Holdings (00700:HK) recorded intraday gains of over 8%, followed closely by leaders like Alibaba (09988:HK), Bilibili (09626:HK), and JD.com (09618:HK). The core driving force behind the strength of Hong Kong stocks comes from better-than-expected financial data and progress in AI monetization. Meituan's first-quarter 2026 financial report showed total revenue of 91 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.6%, exceeding the market expectation of 90.79 billion yuan; operating losses significantly reduced from 16.1 billion yuan in the previous quarter to 6.5 billion yuan, indicating that the core competition in its food delivery industry is gradually shifting towards efficiency and experience.
Valuation Adjustments Build a Base for Structural Capital Rotation
While fundamentals are reversing, the commercial expectations for AI applications are resonating. Meituan's management revealed that its AI assistant Xiaomei's collaboration with Yuanbao will be launched soon. Tencent also plans to initiate the compliance release process for the WeChat AI assistant as early as this month, potentially covering a vast user ecosystem. These actions mark the transition of AI applications from the R&D phase to the monetization stage. If the core technology compliance process progresses smoothly, the previously suppressed valuations of the internet sector will have a fundamental basis for reshaping. Since the Hang Seng Tech Index has fallen more than 20% from its peak, the overall valuation has returned to a historically reasonable range. With the first-quarter reports disclosed, the momentum for downward revisions of earnings expectations has significantly weakened.
Overseas Tech Trends Spread to Mid and Downstream Applications
From a global macro perspective, current capital is showing signs of spreading from AI hardware to the software application side. This year, global capital has been highly focused on semiconductor hardware, while the Hong Kong tech sector, due to its lower hardware weight, has relatively lagged. Currently, the previously strong AI hardware sector is experiencing a high-level correction, with some funds beginning to flow into traditional internet leaders with low valuations. If the overseas tech trend continues to spread from upstream hardware to mid and downstream application software and infrastructure, the Hong Kong stock market, which holds a high weight in AI applications and internet ecosystems, is likely to attract more long-term capital allocation, thereby forming a strong resonance recovery driving force.
