HK Stock Market Move | Insurance stocks continued to decline in September, and the growth rate of life insurance premiums fell compared to the previous month. The market is concerned about overdrawn insurance demand and the trend of long-term interest rates.

The downward trend continues for domestic insurance stocks. As of the time of writing, New China Life Insurance (01336) fell by 6.19% to HK$25.75; China Life Insurance (02628) fell by 5.87% to HK$15.72; China Pacific Insurance (02601) fell by 5.69% to HK$24.85; The People's Insurance (01339) fell by 4.13% to HK$3.95. Haitong released a research report stating that the original premium scale of the life insurance companies in September reached 275.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.5%, with the growth rate falling by 42.6% compared to August. The slowdown in premium growth in September was mainly due to: short-term market pressure on demand after switching to traditional insurance products; the decline in new policies in the same period of the previous year leading to a slowing of current renewal growth; and some companies shifting their business focus to preparations for the New Year in 2025. In terms of auto insurance premiums, the year-on-year increase from January to September was 3.3%, with a quarter-on-quarter increase of 4.4% in Q3 compared to the previous quarter, an increase of 1.6% from Q2. The year-on-year increase in auto insurance premiums in September was 4.5%, the same as August. Guosen previously pointed out that market concerns about overdrawn insurance demand in the short term due to factors such as "speculative suspension" have arisen; it is expected that incremental opportunities during the New Year may focus on exploring incremental insurance demand brought about by the strategic product combination, thereby contributing to stable demand for insurance company asset allocation. China Great Wall, on the other hand, pointed out that market concerns about the insurance sector are focused on the long-term interest rate trend.