Hong Kong stocks hard tech suddenly erupts! The only Hong Kong stock information technology ETF in the entire market (159131) surges 2.48% with massive volume, leading all Hong Kong stock ETFs

Today (March 18), Hong Kong stocks’ hard technology sector surged strongly. The Hong Kong Stock Connect Information C Index once rose over 2%, significantly outperforming the Hang Seng Tech Index. The only Hong Kong Information Technology ETF (159131) opened high in the morning, then weakened with fluctuations, but suddenly surged in the afternoon, followed by a steady upward trend. It ultimately closed up 2.48%, outperforming all market Hong Kong stock ETFs, with a single-day trading volume of 246 million yuan, showing a significant increase. From a technical perspective, the Hong Kong Information Technology ETF (159131) shows a MACD golden cross pattern, with the red histogram beginning to appear, indicating that short-term bullish momentum may be building.

The strong performance of Hong Kong’s hard technology sector may be driven by the following three catalysts:

• Progress in the semiconductor industry: According to 1M AI News, China’s second-largest chip foundry, Huahong Group’s Huahong Microelectronics, is preparing for 7nm mass production at Shanghai Huahong’s Sixth Factory. This will make China the second country after SMIC to have advanced process manufacturing capabilities.
• GTC event positive catalysts: A research report from China Merchants Securities pointed out that Nvidia’s keynote speech and technical demonstrations had already met market expectations. Investment opportunities may arise in server hardware components such as system assembly, GPUs, CPUs, storage, high-speed connectors and optical connections, PCB/IC substrates, cooling, power supplies, and various auxiliary chips.
• Demand growth driven by the OpenClaw craze: A Goldman Sachs research report states that the open-source AI agent OpenClaw (Lobster) can perform real tasks, and its rapid adoption demonstrates the huge potential of AI applications. Once reasoning demand takes off, it will lead to exponential growth in semiconductor and hardware needs.

CITIC Construction Investment believes that, against the backdrop of overall industry expansion slowdown, the increase in penetration driven by localization remains an important source of future growth for the equipment sector. We expect the domesticization rate of equipment to rise rapidly in the future, with leading equipment manufacturers potentially seeing order growth of over 20-30% by 2025. The localization process of key components, especially those critical to supply chains, is expected to accelerate, and the overall fundamentals of the sector are positive.

In terms of valuation, the investment attractiveness of the “Hong Kong chip” industry chain is quite prominent. As of March 17, the latest P/E ratio of the Hong Kong Information Technology ETF (159131) target index was 34.21 times, placing it at the 34.62% percentile over the past three years, with more than 56% room to reach the February 2025 high.

Focusing on the Hong Kong chip super cycle! The T+0 Hong Kong chip industry chain ETF—the first market-wide ETF focusing on the “Hong Kong chip” industry chain—composed of 70% hardware and 30% software, heavily weighted in Hong Kong stocks such as semiconductors, electronics, and computer software, covering 45 Hong Kong hard tech companies. Notably, SMIC has a weight of 14.07%, Xiaomi Group-W 12.41%, Huahong Semiconductor 7.47%. Excluding large-cap internet companies like Alibaba, Tencent, and Meituan, it offers sharper focus and easier capture of the Hong Kong AI hard tech market trends. (As of March 11, 2026)

Data source: China Securities Index Co., Ltd., Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges.

Note: “The only one in the market” refers to the only ETF tracking the CSI Hong Kong Stock Connect Information Technology Composite Index.

Institutional opinion source: China Merchants Securities “Nvidia GTC 2026 Tracking Report”;

Fund fee note: The Hong Kong Information Technology ETF’s subscription and redemption agents may charge a commission of up to 0.5%. On-market trading fees are subject to the actual charges of securities firms. No sales service fee is charged.

Risk warning: The Hong Kong Stock Connect Information Technology ETF passively tracks the CSI Hong Kong Stock Connect Information Technology Composite Index, which was launched on November 14, 2014, and published on June 23, 2017. The index components shown are for display only; individual stock descriptions do not constitute investment advice and do not reflect the holdings or trading activities of any fund managed by the manager. This product is issued and managed by Huabao Fund, with distribution agents not responsible for investment, redemption, or risk management. Investors should carefully read the fund contract, prospectus, and key information documents to understand the fund’s risk-return profile and choose products suitable for their risk tolerance. Past performance does not predict future results. The performance of other funds managed by the fund manager does not guarantee the performance of this fund. Investment should be cautious! The fund’s risk level, assessed as R4—medium-high risk, is suitable for active investors (C4) and above. Sales organizations (including the fund manager’s direct sales channels and other sales agents) must evaluate the fund’s risk according to relevant laws and regulations. Investors should pay attention to suitability opinions issued by sales organizations and rely on their matching results. Different sales institutions may have different suitability opinions, and the risk level assessments provided by sales agencies should not be lower than those made by the fund manager. The fund contract may differ in risk-return characteristics and risk level assessments due to different considerations. Investors should understand the fund’s risk-return profile, consider their own investment objectives, time horizon, experience, and risk capacity, and choose products carefully. The China Securities Regulatory Commission’s registration of the fund does not imply any substantive judgment or guarantee of its investment value, market prospects, or returns. Funds carry risks; invest cautiously!