[ET Net News Agency, 17 April 2025] US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell hinted at
delaying interest rate cuts, leading to a sharp decline in US stocks towards the end of
the session. However, foreign media quoted Chinese sources indicating that the Chinese
government is open to trade talks with the United States, provided that President Trump
shows more respect. Hong Kong stocks rebounded from yesterday's (14th) risk-off decline,
with property stocks experiencing fluctuations and AI concepts rebounding. The Hang Seng
Index reported 21,398, up 341 points or 1.6%, returning above the ten-day (approximately
21,000) and hundred-day (approximately 21,262) moving averages, with a main board turnover
of nearly HKD 117.3 billion. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index stood at 7,904, up 125
points or 1.6%. The Hang Seng Tech Index reported 4,906, up 110 points or 2.3%.

"Wan Kong Shing: Hong Kong stocks still face significant selling pressure, but the 20,000
mark must be defended"

The three major US stock indices closed down last night, but the Hang Seng Index seems
to have found support at 21,000, opening higher this morning before fluctuating upwards.
Wan Kong Shing, the Chief Investment Officer of iFAST Global Markets, told the ET Net News
Agency that the 21,000-point level is the peak of last year's upward trend and provides
certain support. However, this does not mean the adjustment is complete; in the short
term, it is likely to remain within the 21,000 to 22,500 range. He continued, noting that
uncertainties surrounding US-China trade tensions and the global economic outlook lead
investors to adopt a wait-and-see approach, with a greater likelihood of downward
movement. If it falls below 21,000 points, the next support level is the round number of
20,000, followed by last week's low of 19,260 and this year's low of 18,761.

"Chip inventory and domestic chip alternatives make US chip restrictions hard to impact
Chinese AI companies"

NVIDIA stated in regulatory filings that the US government notified them on Monday that
exporting H20 chips to China will require a permit "for the foreseeable future". The
government indicated that the new regulations are aimed at addressing concerns that
"related products may be used or repurposed for Chinese supercomputers." NVIDIA warned
that it expects costs related to "inventory, procurement commitments, and associated
reserves" for the H20 product line to be approximately USD 5.5 billion in the first fiscal
quarter. This news affected AI concept stocks like Alibaba (09988) and Kuaishou (01024),
which faced selling pressure yesterday.
Additionally, foreign media reported that Intel has informed its Chinese customers that
they need to obtain US government permits to sell processors with advanced AI
capabilities.
Market concerns suggest that difficulties in obtaining NVIDIA chips may delay
development progress or cause technological stagnation for Chinese AI companies. Wan Kong
Shing remarked that the limitations on NVIDIA chip exports will have a limited short-term
impact on Chinese AI companies. Chinese firms have been preparing for this for years,
actively stockpiling chips, with companies like Huawei and ZTE having made substantial
advance purchases, currently meeting short-term demand with their inventories. In the long
term, Chinese chip companies are actively investing in self-developed chips, with Huawei
making some progress. Although performance lags behind international standards, there is
continuous improvement. If existing chip inventories are depleted, domestic chips may not
fully replace them in the short term. Companies might resort to using lower-end chips,
which could affect computing speed and performance, but would not completely halt
operations.
Regarding the prospects of Chinese AI companies, Wan Kong Shing believes that the
inability to obtain NVIDIA's H20 chips should not lead to the underestimating of China's
AI development. Chinese AI companies remain worth investing in, although recent news has
caused significant stock price fluctuations. He pointed out that the main difference
between Chinese AI and foreign AI lies in computational precision, and DeepSeek can
achieve similar results to foreign AI with less computing power.