HK Stock Market Move | In the afternoon, Chinese securities firms' stocks fell further. Morgan Stanley said that the momentum of increased trading volume faces uncertainty and downgraded the target price of securities firms' stocks.

Chinese brokerage stocks fell in the afternoon, as of the time of writing, CMSC (06099) fell by 4.68% to 11.8 Hong Kong dollars; GF SEC (01776) fell by 3.98% to 9.42 Hong Kong dollars; EB SECURITIES (06178) fell by 3.36% to 6.61 Hong Kong dollars; CITIC SEC (06030) fell by 3.27% to 18.32 Hong Kong dollars. Morgan Stanley released a research report stating that the daily average trading volume of the Chinese A-share market in the first quarter of 2025 increased by 84% year-on-year, but decreased by 9.4% compared to the previous quarter. The sustainability of the market's trading volume growth momentum has become increasingly uncertain. Under the impact of US tariffs, policymakers, state-owned enterprises, and the People's Bank of China have all expressed strong support for the stock market. The ongoing tariff disputes are expected to bring more uncertainties to market sentiment and fundamentals, making it difficult to determine how long the trend of increasing trading volume can last. Morgan Stanley stated that they have lowered their forecast of daily average trading volume in the A-share market for the years 2025 to 2027 by 9%, 9%, and 6% respectively. They predict that the daily average trading volume for the whole year of 2021 will decrease by 4%, and will increase by 8% to 9% annually in 2022 and 2027. Consequently, they have lowered their average forecast for the return on equity of brokerage stocks by 29 basis points for next year, and have adjusted the target prices of the covered brokerage stocks down by 3% to 16%.