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Hong Kong stocks rise as rallies from Alibaba, SMIC, other tech giants lift market sentiment

Hong Kong stocks extended their gains on Wednesday afternoon as concerns over a wave of lock-up expiries, long seen as a major headwind for the…

By Samantha Johnson / July 8, 2026
Hong Kong stocks extended their gains on Wednesday afternoon as concerns over a wave of lock-up expiries, long seen as a major headwind for the city’s equities, showed early signs of easing, while surging rallies in tech heavyweights lifted broader market sentiment.

The Hang Seng Index, which entered the noon break up 2.4 per cent, continued to climb in the afternoon session as of 1.30pm. The Hang Seng Tech Index heavily outpaced the broader market, expanding its gains past 4.8 per cent as institutional buyers piled back into mega-cap internet and hardware names, despite renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

Leading the afternoon change was e-commerce giant Alibaba, which saw its gains widen to a stunning 9.4 per cent. Semiconductor bellwether SMIC surged nearly 8 per cent, reflecting resilient domestic tech demand, while short-video platform Kuaishou and smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi jumped over 8 per cent and 7 per cent, respectively. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

At the centre of the rally was Knowledge Atlas Technology, also known as Zhipu AI, which surged more than 19 per cent, even as the market digested the company’s first major lock-up expiry following its Hong Kong listing earlier this year.

While the unlocking of the equity initially sparked fears of a sell-off, the expected oversupply was smoothly absorbed after several cornerstone investors reaffirmed their holding commitments the day prior.

That confidence spilled over to MiniMax. The artificial intelligence unicorn, which faces its own substantial lock-up expiry later this week, gained 2.7 per cent as investors held steady and waited for clearer signals on commercial demand and coming valuation metrics.

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