Zhitong Hong Kong Stock Early Knowledge | Insurance product guaranteed interest rates linked to market interest rates, all three major U.S. stock indices recorded declines last week

[Today's Headlines]

The guaranteed interest rate of insurance products is linked to market interest rates, with the latest research value at 2.34%

On January 10, the National Financial Regulatory Administration issued a notice to the China Insurance Industry Association and various life insurance companies regarding the establishment of a mechanism linking guaranteed interest rates to market interest rates and dynamic adjustments, further clarifying how the guaranteed interest rates of insurance products are linked to the market and adjusted. On the same day, the Insurance Association organized a regular meeting of the expert advisory committee on the evaluation interest rates of life insurance reserves, announcing that the current research value of the guaranteed interest rate for ordinary life insurance products is 2.34%. Industry insiders believe that linking the guaranteed interest rates of insurance products to market interest rates and making dynamic adjustments will help the industry timely mitigate interest rate risk and promote healthy development.

According to Zhitong Finance APP, Guotai Junan Securities released a research report stating that the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued a notice regarding the establishment of a mechanism linking guaranteed interest rates to market interest rates and dynamic adjustments. The issuance of the document makes the future adjustment expectations for the liability costs of life insurance companies more clear, which is beneficial for the stable operation of asset-liability matching for life insurance companies and is favorable for the valuation recovery of life insurance companies. In addition, Guotai Junan believes that due to the decline in yield levels in the fourth quarter of 2024, the profit growth rate of brokerages in 2024 is expected to exceed expectations. Guotai Junan also recommends increasing holdings in the brokerage sector, which has undergone sufficient price adjustments.

[Market Outlook]

All three major U.S. stock indices recorded declines last week, with the Dow Jones falling 1.86% over the week

Overnight, the U.S. stock market saw the Dow Jones drop by 696.75 points, a decline of 1.63%, closing at 41,938.45 points; the Nasdaq fell by 317.25 points, also down 1.63%, closing at 19,161.63 points; the S&P 500 index decreased by 91.21 points, a drop of 1.54%, closing at 5,827.04 points. Among the stocks with high trading volume, NVIDIA fell by 3%, Tesla dropped by 0.05%, Apple decreased by 2.41%, and Meta Platforms rose by 0.84%. All three major U.S. stock indices recorded declines last week, with the Dow Jones falling 1.86% over the week, the S&P 500 index down 1.94%, and the Nasdaq down 2.34%.

The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closed down 3.14%, with a cumulative decline of 5.09% last week, and popular Chinese concept stocks generally fell, with Li Auto dropping over 4% and Alibaba falling over 3%. The Hang Seng Index ADR fell, closing at 18,903.75, down 160.54 points or 0.84% compared to the Hong Kong closing.

[Hot Topics Ahead]

He Lifeng attended the meeting to promote consumption expansion: Increase efforts to promote consumption expansion work

The meeting to promote consumption expansion was held in Beijing on the 10th, attended by He Lifeng, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, who delivered a speech. He emphasized the need to deeply implement the spirit of the Central Economic Work Conference and the work deployment of the State Council, profoundly recognize the importance of promoting consumption expansion, further enhance urgency and responsibility, adhere to goal orientation and problem orientation, and increase efforts to promote consumption expansion, focusing on expanding domestic demand.

China CDC: All are known pathogens, no new infectious diseases have emerged Overall, this winter and spring season will still show alternating or overlapping epidemic trends, but all are known pathogens, and no new infectious diseases have emerged. The overall epidemic intensity and medical consultation pressure will not be higher than last year. Wang Liping, a researcher at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, introduced that it is currently the high incidence season for respiratory infectious diseases, and multiple pathogens may cause respiratory infections. Monitoring shows that influenza is the main disease causing acute respiratory infection patients to seek medical attention at current medical institutions. Monitoring data indicates that influenza is currently in a seasonal epidemic period, with most provinces experiencing moderate epidemic intensity. At present, the upward trend of influenza positivity rate has slowed down, and with schools gradually starting their winter break, it is expected that the level of influenza activity may decline in the middle to late part of this month.

Musk announces: Neuralink has implanted brain-machine chips in the third subject

Musk announced a major piece of news. According to the latest information, Elon Musk's brain-machine interface company Neuralink has implanted brain-machine chips in the third subject, all functioning well. Musk announced that the company plans to implant about 20 to 30 more cases by 2025. Regarding Neuralink's next research direction, Musk revealed that it will help visually impaired individuals, even those who have completely lost their eyes or have damaged optic nerves, or even those who are congenitally blind, can regain vision by directly connecting to the brain's visual cortex. This involves companies related to brain-machine interface concepts.

Guo Mingqi: Apple will face more severe challenges this year, the market is overly optimistic, and there is a risk of stock price decline

On Friday local time, Tianfeng International analyst Guo Mingqi stated that Apple will face severe challenges in 2025, with iPhone shipment growth nearly stagnating. Even the release of the new iPhone SE4 will hardly boost sales, as business in China continues to shrink, and AI services have not yet contributed. He stated that previous surveys showed that most iPhone users are not interested in Apple Intelligence, which aligns with supply chain surveys, indicating that since Apple provided Apple Intelligence, there has been no help for the iPhone replacement wave. Guo Mingqi stated, "I am not pessimistic about the long-term trend of Apple Intelligence, but based on the above, I have not found evidence that Apple Intelligence can contribute to hardware replacement waves and service revenue, so we must at least be cautious about the potential downside risks caused by the market's previous over-optimism."

Guo Mingqi mentioned that after discussions with major suppliers, Apple has taken a more cautious approach to this year's iPhone production plan. Apple estimates that this year's delivery volume will be between 220 million and 225 million units, similar to last year's 220 million units, and lower than the market expectation of 240 million units. Therefore, Guo Mingqi estimates that even if Apple launches the new iPhone SE4 in the short term, the estimated delivery volume in the first half of the year will still be 6% lower than the same period last year.

Tencent Games and NetEase Games release calendar: Minors cannot play games for more than 8 hours during the Spring Festival

Recently, Tencent Games and NetEase Games successively released the game play limit calendar for minors during the winter vacation of 2025. Among them, Tencent Games' calendar shows that minors can log into games on January 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, from January 28 to February 4, as well as on the evenings of February 7 and 9 from 20:00 to 21:00, totaling 15 hours Among them, minors can play games for 16 hours during the winter vacation, with 8 hours available during the Spring Festival holiday, according to the limited play calendar released by NetEase Games. Unlike Tencent Games, NetEase Games includes February 14th as part of the winter vacation.

The world's first rollable screen PC will be available for sale this year: Office experience will see a leap in improvement

According to Zhitong Finance APP, on January 8, 2025, at the CES exhibition, which attracts global attention in the technology industry, Lenovo Group (00992) launched a groundbreaking product — the ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 rollable screen AI PC, instantly becoming the focus of the exhibition and sparking discussions across various sectors, injecting new vitality into the global PC market and marking the beginning of a transformation in the business office field. Luca Rossi, Executive Vice President of Lenovo Group and President of the Intelligent Devices Business Group, stated in a media interview that AI PCs will occupy a larger market share by 2025. He predicts that the penetration rate of AI PCs will reach 40%-50% in the next two to three years, and even as high as 80%. "In the next three to four years, every PC will become an AI PC."

China COSCO Shipping Holdings (01919): Expects a profit increase of approximately 105.71% for 2024

Zhitong Finance APP reported that China COSCO Shipping Holdings (01919) announced that it expects the group to achieve earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of approximately RMB 69.926 billion in 2024, an increase of about 90.67% year-on-year; net profit of approximately RMB 55.372 billion, an increase of about 94.99% year-on-year; net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company of approximately RMB 49.082 billion, an increase of about 105.71% year-on-year; and net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company after deducting non-recurring gains and losses of approximately RMB 48.989 billion, an increase of about 106.25% year-on-year.

In 2024, the container shipping market is expected to show moderate growth in cargo volume, and due to factors such as the ongoing situation in the Red Sea, effective capacity supply is insufficient, keeping market freight rates at relatively high levels. In 2024, the company's container shipping business is expected to achieve both volume and price increases year-on-year, resulting in good operating performance.

The "Shanghai No. 1 Courtyard" developed in cooperation by CITIC, Xinhu, and Sunac achieved sales of 6.6 billion yuan at its opening

According to the official WeChat account of Sunac Group, the second batch of the Shanghai No. 1 Courtyard developed in cooperation by CITIC, Xinhu, and Sunac achieved sales of 6.6 billion yuan on the opening day. The buildings opened this time are two high-rise buildings, G4 and G5, located in the core area of the entire community. Additionally, following this product launch, the third batch of products for Shanghai No. 1 Courtyard is expected to be launched soon, with high-rise products and style courtyard products officially debuting.

JD Health (06618) launches its first medical large model product system "AI Jingyi"

On January 11, JD Health launched its first medical large model product system "AI Jingyi" at the 2025 JD Health Annual Doctor Ceremony. Data shows that in the past year, JD Internet Hospital had over 180 million patient visits, with patient service satisfaction continuously improving, reaching 98.4% AI Intensifies Supply-Demand Tension, Uranium Prices Hit Record Highs

Recently, the price of uranium, the fuel for nuclear reactors, has soared to historic highs, primarily due to the supply tightness of enriched uranium caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, coupled with increased demand from AI data centers. According to data provider UxC, the price of enriched uranium has reached USD 190 per separative work unit, a significant increase from USD 56 per separative work unit three years ago. Analysts indicate that nuclear energy, as a renewable clean energy source, has attracted the attention of governments and enterprises worldwide, especially tech giants like Microsoft and Amazon, who are eager for nuclear energy to power their energy-intensive generative AI data centers. On the other hand, the Russia-Ukraine conflict is still ongoing, with Russia being a major player in the extraction of uranium and its conversion into enriched uranium needed for nuclear reactors. The U.S. sanctions and export bans imposed on Russia have driven enriched uranium prices to new highs. Nick Lawson, CEO of investment group Ocean Wall, stated: "Western countries lack sufficient uranium conversion and enrichment capacity, which is why prices have surged so dramatically, and prices will continue to rise." The uranium mining sector includes China General Nuclear Power Corporation (01164) listed in Hong Kong.

【Stock Highlights】

Micron Brain Science (02172) Issues Earnings Upgrade Expecting Annual Net Profit Between RMB 236 Million and RMB 270 Million, a Year-on-Year Increase of Approximately 75% to 100%

According to Zhitong Finance APP, Micron Brain Science (02172) announced that for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024 (reporting period), the group expects a net profit of approximately RMB 236 million to RMB 270 million, representing a year-on-year increase of about 75% to 100%. The group's adjusted net profit from 2020 to 2024 has achieved a compound annual growth rate of approximately 55% over five years.

The significant increase in the group's profit expectations is mainly attributed to the following reasons:

(1) Benefiting from enhanced hospital coverage and market share, as well as a doubling of overseas business revenue, the group's revenue is expected to grow at a double-digit rate during the reporting period;

(2) By implementing supply chain improvements and cost-saving measures, the group's operational efficiency has improved, significantly enhancing profitability.

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