(1) Stock Market News

- U.S. Market

The U.S. market closed with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up by 172 points or 0.44%, at 39,056 points, marking the sixth consecutive trading day of gains; the S&P 500 edged down by less than one point, closing at 5,187 points; the Nasdaq Composite, dominated by technology stocks, fell by 0.18%, closing at 16,302 points.

- Hong Kong Market

The Hong Kong stock market fluctuated downward. The Hang Seng Index fell for two consecutive days, closing down by 165 points at 18,313 points. The total daily turnover increased to over 128.6 billion yuan. The technology index fell by more than 1%, closing at 3,872 points.

- Mainland Market

The mainland Chinese stock market declined. The Shanghai Composite Index closed at 3,128 points, down by 19 points or 0.61%, with a transaction volume of 367.22 billion yuan. The Shenzhen Component Index closed at 9,638 points, down by 132 points or 1.35%, with a transaction volume of 497.163 billion yuan. The CSI 300 Index stood at 3,630 points, down by 28 points or 0.79%; the Growth Enterprise Market Index was at 1,865 points, down by 27 points or 1.45%.

(2) Economic News

- Regarding the recent inquiry by the People's Bank of China (PBOC) to some large domestic banks about long-term government bonds, the PBOC stated that conducting government bond transactions in the secondary market can serve as a means of liquidity management and a reserve for monetary policy tools.

- The Riksbank of Sweden cut the key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points, from 4% to 3.75%, which was in line with market expectations. The central bank indicated that if the inflation outlook remains unchanged, it is expected to cut rates twice more in the second half of the year; future adjustments to monetary policy should be cautious, gradually reducing the policy interest rate.

- Morgan Stanley released a report stating that it currently expects the Federal Reserve to begin cutting interest rates from September, instead of July as previously predicted, and still anticipates three rate cuts for the year, each by 25 basis points. The reversal of key factors suggests that inflation is expected to slow down in the future, but due to the lack of progress in recent months, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will need more time to gain confidence before taking the first step.

(3) Corporate News

- China Telecom (00728) announced the international operation of the TianTong Satellite Mobile System, starting with Hong Kong, enabling users to connect directly to satellites via mobile phones and providing maritime communication and emergency communication capabilities. The group is currently discussing cooperation with local telecommunications companies such as Hong Kong Telecom (06823), Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong (00215), and SmarTone Telecommunications (00315), with the hope of allowing more Hong Kong users to utilize the service in local waters, outlying islands, and emergency scenarios.

- Recently, BYD Insurance was approved to use a unified compulsory insurance clause, basic insurance premium rate, and corresponding premium rate fluctuation coefficient in eight regions across the country. This marks another substantial progress in BYD Insurance's vehicle insurance business following the approval of its vehicle insurance business scope in November 2023.

- Geely Automobile's (00175) electric vehicle brand, Extreme Krypton, is set to be listed in the United States on Friday (10th). According to reports, the public offering of Extreme Krypton has been oversubscribed by several times, and the subscription deadline will be one day earlier than originally planned, i.e., today (8th), with the official listing on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday.

(4) Corporate Performance Announcements

- Xiangsheng Holdings (02599) announced that for the first four months of this year, the total contract sales amount was about 1.637 billion yuan (RMB, the same below), a year-on-year decrease of 76.21%; the contract construction area was about 123,000 square meters, a reduction of 75.72%; the average contract price was about 13,300 yuan per square meter.

- Sinochem Fertilizer (00297) announced that the net profit for the first quarter, ending in March of this year, was about 499 million yuan (RMB, the same below), a year-on-year increase of about 1.63%. This was mainly due to the group's advancement in the "Biological +" strategic transformation, focusing on core biological products, and continuously promoting the development of biotechnological products, which has driven a steady growth in sales volume and profit margin, resisting the impact of market fluctuations on performance. During the period, the turnover was about 6.639 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.51%.