Hong Kong Daily Briefing

SCMP reported that Hong Kong's inaugural five-year economic plan broadens equity market access, deepens its offshore yuan business, and expands gold trading with the explicit goal of closing the gap with London as Asia's premier financial centre. Simultaneously, HKMA chief Eddie Yue confirmed the Exchange Fund is weighing increased gold and precious metals exposure to support the gold-trading hub push. These are medium-term structural positives for HKEX — a new IPO pipeline in space names, plus a deeper gold market, diversifies the revenue base beyond mainland re-listing dependence.

The HKMA followed the Fed's 25bp hike to raise Hong Kong's base rate to 4.25%, the first adjustment since 2023. However, major local banks declined to pass the increase through to prime rates, per SCMP's property market coverage. Industry insiders note that 'another increase could puncture the market's relatively fragile recovery.' The peg mechanism continues to hold — USD/HKD remained well within the convertibility zone — removing the tail risk of HKMA FX intervention from Friday's agenda. CICC flagged that the Fed hike's impact on Hong Kong stocks should be 'short-lived unless the Fed embarks on a sustained rate-increase cycle.'

SCMP reported that Hong Kong's SFC plans to adjust listing rules to pursue IPOs from mainland China's space companies, catalysed by the blockbuster SpaceX June listing and Beijing's prioritisation of the space sector. This is a direct response to the perceived loss of high-growth listings to US exchanges and a clear signal that HKEX is broadening its sectoral mandate. Space and satellite names with dual Hong Kong listings would add a new growth layer to the HSCEI beyond the traditional Tencent/CNOOC/HSBC weighting.