[Zhenzhuo Institutional View] Weak employment data triggers tech stock correction, Stock Connect sees net inflow of HKD 24.9 billion on Thursday

The January ADP private employment data in the U.S. showed that new job additions were only 22,000, far below the market expectation of 45,000. This significant slowdown has raised concerns among investors about a cooling labor market and weakening economic recovery momentum. Affected by weak macroeconomic data, market risk aversion has intensified, prompting investors to accelerate profit-taking in tech stocks that had previously seen substantial gains. Among them, semiconductor giant Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), a key player in the AI computing sector, saw its stock price plunge sharply, further deepening market skepticism about the entire AI industry chain. This pessimism is rapidly spreading to other semiconductor companies, leading to a broad sector pullback.

On Thursday, the Southbound Stock Connect recorded a net inflow of HKD 24.9 billion, with $TENCENT(00700.HK) seeing the largest net inflow at HKD 5.58 billion, followed by $TRACKER FUND(02800.HK) . Meanwhile, $YOFC(06869.HK) recorded the largest net outflow at HKD 457 million, followed by Hua Hong Semiconductor (01347.HK).

Source: KGI Securities