HK Stock Market Move | Household appliance stocks continue to rise, extreme heatwave sweeping over Europe, Citigroup predicts that Europe's air conditioning market will enter an upward cycle of growth.

Household appliance stocks continue to rise. As of the time of writing, Midea Group Co., Ltd (00300) rose 3.51% to 85.5 Hong Kong dollars; JS GLOBAL LIFE (01691) rose 3.03% to 1.36 Hong Kong dollars; HAIER SMARTHOME (06690) rose 1.5% to 20.28 Hong Kong dollars. In terms of news, a heatwave is sweeping across Europe, with record high temperatures in many places. CITIC SEC pointed out that due to local building policies, labor costs, and electricity costs, the penetration rate of air conditioning in Europe is relatively low. Midea introduced the PortaSplit portable split air conditioner, which has been well received by European consumers, highlighting the competitiveness of Chinese household appliances. The trend of Chinese household appliances going global is on the rise, and there is vast growth potential in overseas household appliances. It is recommended to focus on this trend. Citigroup released a research report stating that the increasing frequency of extreme heatwaves in Europe is a structural driver of the rising penetration rate of air conditioning in the region. Currently, the penetration rate of household air conditioning in Europe is only about 20%, much lower than the approximately 90% in the United States and Japan. The bank maintains its preferred order in the Chinese household appliance industry as Midea Group Co., Ltd, HAIER SMARTHOME, and Gree Electric Appliances, Inc. of Zhuhai.