From chasing robots to chasing profits: the numbers moving markets
Unitree Robotics, US inflation rates, gold prices, Hong Kong homes and CK Hutchison’s interim results were in the spotlight this week
While Chinese investors faced down long odds for a stake in Unitree Robotics amid a broader frenzy for high-performing tech stocks, the market this week also focused on the implications of July’s US inflation rate, gold price trends and the interim results of CK Hutchison Holdings, one of the flagship companies owned by the family of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing.
Unitree’s retail subscription rate: 0.0181 per cent
The slim subscription odds for the Hangzhou-based maker of embodied artificial intelligence hardware undercut those of other recent tech debuts, including the 0.47 per cent rate seen in July for memory chip maker ChangXin Memory Technologies.
Unitree raised 6.1 billion yuan (US$904 million) at 150.80 yuan a share, giving the robotics pioneer a valuation of 60.99 billion yuan.
Real estate’s place on priority list: seventh
Only 24 per cent of affluent residents with at least HK$1 million (US$127,449) in investible assets cited home ownership as a key life goal, placing it seventh. Immersive travel took second place at 48 per cent – trailing only early retirement at 49 per cent – with high-net-worth respondents (those with investible assets of HK$7.8 million or more) budgeting an average of HK$345,000 for travel this year.
Gold price hits nine-week high: US$4,449
Spot gold rallied from US$4,409 an ounce on Tuesday to hit an intraday high of US$4,449 on Thursday, marking its highest level in nine weeks before closing 1.3 per cent lower at US$4,351.