The market overreacted to the impact of AI disruption to the game industry, and believing that core creative leadership remains in human hands, Daiwa released a research report saying. The broker reiterated its Positive rating on China's online game sector, with top picks including TENCENT (00700.HK), BILIBILI-W (09626.HK) and NTES-S (09999.HK).

Daiwa was bullish on TENCENT, BILIBILI-W and NTES-S, believing that they possess comprehensive capabilities, vision advantage and live-operation strength.

The table below shows Daiwa's ratings and target prices for the relevant stocks:

Stock | Rating | Target Price

Bilibili (BILI.US) | Buy | US$32
BILIBILI-W (09626.HK) | Buy | $250
NetEase (NTES.US) | Buy | US$165
NTES-S (09999.HK) | Buy | $257
TENCENT (00700.HK) | Buy | $710
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The HKD softened this morning (17th), with a peak/trough of 7.8220/7.8292. The spot USD T/T rate last reported at 7.8274.

The balance of the banking system of Hong Kong is expected to be HKD53.904 billion next Tuesday (21st).
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US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and Secretary of Energy Chris Wright held a video meeting with senior executives of major US oil companies, urging an increase in domestic oil production, according to a Bloomberg report.

It is understood that participating companies included Exxon Mobil (XOM.US), Chevron (CVX.US), Continental Resources (CLR.US), Diamondback Energy (FANG.US), Devon Energy (DVN.US), and Occidental Petroleum (OXY.US).

The report said government officials emphasized that there will be room for further output increases in the near term, given strong price signals and the need for market stability. They also reiterated that there are no plans regarding crude oil export restrictions.

Meanwhile, oil companies responded cautiously. Many producers are reluctant to significantly expand production amid uncertainty over how long Middle East supply disruptions may persist.
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Citi has issued a research report expecting TRIP.COM-S (09961.HK) to report in-line revenue and adjusted operating profit for 1Q26.

Looking ahead to 2Q26, Citi estimates the impact of the Middle East conflict to remain manageable for TRIP.COM-S, as these regions should contribute only less than a low-single-digit percentage to the company's outbound travel and Trip.com's revenue. Besides, travel demand to those regions may shift to other destinations.

Believing that Trip.com has healthy travel demand and growth potential, Citi has kept a Buy rating and a target price of USD82 for Trip.com (TCOM.US).
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Nomura released a research report estimating JD-SW (09618.HK) to post a 54% YoY decline in non-GAAP net profit for 1Q26 to RMB5.9 billion, 16% ahead of market consensus. Revenue is expected to rise 3.6% YoY to RMB312 billion, in line with market consensus.

For 1Q26, JD-SW's new business loss is predicted to be RMB10.7 billion, narrowing from a loss of RMB14.8 billion in 4Q25, mainly due to more prudent investment in its on-demand retail operations.

Moreover, while investing in new businesses, the management also demonstrated a willingness to deliver sustained shareholder returns. Therefore, the broker reiterated rating at Buy and a target price of US$40 on JD.com (JD.US)'s US stock.
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JD-SW (09618.HK) officially launched the JoyEgoCam ultra-HD data collection terminal yesterday (16th) at the embodied intelligence ecosystem conference, according to Sina Tech.

In March this year, JD-SW announced what it described as the largest data collection initiative in human history, targeting more than 10 million hours of real-world video data within two years.

When being asked about the reasons behind such a large-scale data collection campaign, JD-SW stated that its intention is not to generate revenue, but to speed up the overall level of intelligence across the industry. It hopes to see the embodied intelligence sector mature faster, so that the embodied intelligence can actually be applied to various products.
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Macau's Gross Revenue from Games of Fortune reached MOP65.873 billion in 1Q26, up 14.25% YoY and down 0.28% QoQ, data released by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau of Macau showed.

Among which, VIP GGR amounted to MOP19.575 billion in 1Q26, representing a YoY growth of 35.4% and a QoQ reduction of 3.63%. VIP GGR accounted for 29.71% of total GGR during the quarter, up 4.64 ppts from 25.07% in 1Q25.
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China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS) announced on Friday (17th) that the central parity of USD/ RMB dropped 6 bps from the previous day to 6.8622.
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SoftBank (9984.JP) has launched USD1.5 billion and EUR1.8 billion in bond offerings, with the interest rate on its ten-year USD bonds reaching as high as 8.5%, marking the highest coupon ever paid by the company on a USD bond issuance, Bloomberg reported.

The rate is close to yields paid by lower-rated junk-grade companies, report said. The company signed a USD40 billion syndicated loan agreement in March, which will be partially repaid through asset disposals.

S&P Global Ratings assigned SoftBank a BB+ credit rating, one notch below investment grade, but the bond pricing is closer to that of companies rated B.
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In the first half of April, China's passenger car (PV) market entered a short-term adjustment phase after the post-Spring Festival recovery seen in March, during which overall demand showed a mild pullback when compared with the same period in March, according to a mid-month report released by the China Automobile Dealers Association (CADA).

It is expected that the PV market will heat up gradually in the second half of April, thanks to the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition in late April, consumer demand stimulated by multiple launches of heavyweight new models, and pre-holiday car purchases ahead of the Labor Day Golden Week.

Given that the PV market will likely retain a certain degree of resilience this month, the CADA predicts the final sales will reach 1.6 million PVs, broadly in line with March.
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Netflix (NFLX.US) announced after the market bell on Thursday that its 1FQ revenue rose by 16% YoY to USD12.25 billion, above expectations of USD12.18 billion, while net profit nearly doubled YoY to USD5.28 billion, with EPS of USD1.23, beating expectations of USD0.76.

Nevertheless, Netflix's EPS forecast of USD78 cents for this quarter was still below Wall Street analysts' estimate of USD84 cents, and Reed Hastings, its chairman and co-founder, is set to step down after serving the board for 29 years to pursue philanthropic endeavors and personal interests. The company's share price slumped by 9% in after-hours trading.
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Industrial Production YoY for Mar in the United States is 0.7%, lower than the previous value of 1.4%.~



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Industrial Production MoM for Mar in United States is 0.2%, unchanged from its last period. The forecast was 0.1%.~



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Continuing Jobless Claims for Apr/04 in United States is 1,818K, higher than the previous value of 1,787K. The forecast was 1810K.~



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Initial Jobless Claims for Apr/11 in the United States is 207K, lower than the previous value of 218K. The forecast was 215K.~



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Inflation Rate MoM Final for Mar in Euro Area is 1.3%, higher than the previous value of 0.6%. The forecast was 1.2%.~



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Inflation Rate YoY Final for Mar in Euro Area is 2.6%, higher than the previous value of 1.9%. The forecast was 2.5%.~



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Core Inflation Rate YoY Final for Mar in Euro Area is 2.3%, lower than the previous value of 2.4%. The forecast was 2.3%.~



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The HSI climbed 446 points or 1.7% to close at 26,394. The HSCEI jumped up 186 points or 2.1% to 8,905. The HSTECH mounted 180 points or 3.7% to close at 5,092. Total market turnover for the day amounted to $256.228 billion.

Techs were popular. Alibaba Cloud will raise prices for certain MU model unit services by 2-7% from mid-May. BABA-W (09988.HK) advanced 5.6%, with a turnover of $17.1 billion. Some brokers expected BIDU-SW (09888.HK) to report a 40% YoY increase in its 1Q26 cloud business revenue, far exceeding market consensus. Therefore, BIDU-SW swelled 7.7% to close at $123.3. KINGSOFT CLOUD (03896.HK) and TENCENT (00700.HK) mushroomed 6.4% and 3.6%, while LENOVO GROUP (00992.HK) shot up 4.9%.

AI stocks KNOWLEDGE ATLAS (02513.HK) and MINIMAX-W (00100.HK) ascended 1.8% and 6.3%, while DEEPEXI TECH (01384.HK) soared 29.5%, with a turnover of $3.07 billion. XUNCE (03317.HK) surged 10.5%, with a turnover exceeding $2.1 billion.

Chip stocks BIREN TECH (06082.HK) and ILUVATAR COREX (09903.HK) rocketed 26.6% and 17.5%, while SMIC (00981.HK) and HUA HONG SEMI (01347.HK) ballooned 1.1% and 1.3%. Power equipment stocks DONGFANG ELEC (01072.HK) and HARBIN ELECTRIC (01133.HK) rallied 9.5% and 8.3%, while uranium stock CGN MINING (01164.HK) hyped up 6.4%.
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