Northbound funds | "Northbound trading volume was net bought for 14.194 billion. According to reports, KNOWLEDGE ATLAS (02513) is considering developing its own AI chip. Northbound investors bought over 4.3 billion Hong Kong dollars throughout the day."

On July 8th, the Hong Kong stock market saw a net inflow of 14.194 billion Hong Kong dollars from Northbound trading. Among them, the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect recorded a net inflow of 7.03 billion Hong Kong dollars, while the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect saw a net inflow of 7.164 billion Hong Kong dollars. The top three stocks with the highest net inflows from Northbound trading were KNOWLEDGE ATLAS(02513), BABA-W(09988), and Tencent(00700). The top two stocks with the highest net outflows were YOFC(06869) and KB LAMINATES(01888). Active trading stocks in the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect were mentioned. KNOWLEDGE ATLAS(02513) saw a net inflow of 4.329 billion Hong Kong dollars. According to reports from Sina Finance, amidst increasing demand for GLM series AI models, KNOWLEDGE ATLAS is assessing the possibility of developing custom-made chips. Additionally, the website of the China Securities Regulatory Commission shows that KNOWLEDGE ATLAS's A-share IPO guidance status has changed to "guidance work completed." It is reported that on June 1st of this year, KNOWLEDGE ATLAS announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that the company plans to apply for an initial public offering of A shares and to list on the sci-tech innovation board. BABA-W(09988), Tencent(00700), and MEITUAN-W(03690) respectively saw net inflows of 3.982 billion, 2.508 billion, and 216 million Hong Kong dollars. Since July, the risks in the AI hardware sector have increased due to crowded trading, with the Hang Seng Tech Index at a valuation bottom and supported by strong cash flow and large buybacks. CMB International pointed out that looking ahead to July, we believe that the valuation of the Hang Seng Tech Index is in an attractive range, making it suitable for buying on a dip, but the valuation recovery may rely on improvements in the fundamentals. Hua Hong Grace Semiconductor(01347) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation(00981) saw net inflows of 318 million and 68.06 million Hong Kong dollars, respectively. Leading AI companies worldwide are considering developing their own chips. DeepSeek's self-developed AI reasoning chip project has been revealed, started about a year ago; KNOWLEDGE ATLAS is evaluating the possibility of developing custom AI chips on its own; OpenAI has already publicly released the first custom reasoning chip jointly designed with Broadcom; Anthropic has long been considering the possibility of developing its own chips. There was a divergence in the Jiangtao Series, with KINGBOARD HLDG(00148) receiving a net inflow of 2.26 billion Hong Kong dollars, while KB LAMINATES(01888) experienced a net outflow of 2.23 billion Hong Kong dollars. KINGBOARD HLDG saw further share reduction by major shareholder Hallgain, with the latest holding decreasing to 31.98%. Citigroup stated that due to the possible higher average selling price of electronic-grade glass fiber cloth, KINGBOARD HLDG's first-half results may exceed the bank's forecast. Compared to KINGBOARD HLDG, the subsidiary KB LAMINATES is more favored. In the short term, KINGBOARD HLDG is unlikely to further allocate shares of KB LAMINATES. YOFC(06869) saw a net outflow of 499 million Hong Kong dollars. Public information shows that Hengtong Optic-Electric, Far East Smarter Energy, Tongding Interconnection Information, Hoshine Silicon Industry, Han's Laser Technology Industry Group, and others have initiated plans to expand optical fiber production. Nomura stated that if new entrants can successfully develop high-end products and smoothly implement their capacity expansion plans, market competition will intensify, and existing participants like Yangtze Optical Fibre And Cable Joint Stock may face pressure on profit margin expansion.