HK Stock Market Move | Airline stocks rebound collectively; DHL executive says this year's air freight rates are higher than the same period last year, with some capacity shifting to AI-related trade.

Airline stocks rebounded collectively. As of press time, CATHAY PAC AIR (00293) rose 3.66% to HK$13.86; CHINA EAST AIR (00670) rose 2.90% to HK$2.31; CHINA SOUTH AIR (01055) rose 2.63% to HK$2.73; Air China Limited (00753) rose 1.45% to HK$3.49. On the news front, DHL executive Airui Xin pointed out that geopolitical reshaping of supply chains, the restocking cycle, and the AI wave are jointly pushing up freight rates. About two-thirds of high-value-added AI products circulate by air, making them a core growth engine for air cargo. At the same time, the cancellation of the small-parcel tariff exemption by Europe and the United States has slowed e-commerce demand, with some capacity shifting to AI-related trade. In the week ended October 19, the Baltic Air Freight Index global index rose 4.7%, up 26.4% year on year, exceeding the highs of the past two peak seasons. Zhongtai pointed out that airline stocks are still being disturbed by factors such as oil prices and ticket prices, but the current market may have already priced in considerable uncertainty, and we believe the marginal impact of subsequent negative disturbances may become limited. In the future, airline stock prices may play out through three stages: expectation repair, operating repair, and performance repair.