The U.S. reported that the September CPI rose 3.7% year-on-year, higher than market expectations. The core CPI for September, excluding food and energy, rose 2.6% year-on-year, also exceeding expectations. The inflation data, which surpassed forecasts, boosted expectations of further rate hikes, causing the yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury bond to spike sharply to above 5.3%. At the same time, news that AI companies are facing increasing difficulty in issuing bonds spread in the U.S. stock market, significantly dragging down Asian stock markets this morning. Before noon, South Korea's KOSPI index expanded losses to 8%, triggering a circuit breaker, while Japanese stocks plunged 5%. Hong Kong stocks outperformed regional peers, but still succumbed to selling pressure before noon, falling over 300 points and losing the 24,000 level once again.

　　Next-generation cloud service-related U.S. stocks plunged sharply on Wednesday. CoreWeave's share price dropped 15% overnight, mainly because Chamath Palihapitiya, known as the "SPAC king," posted on a social media platform a screenshot showing CoreWeave's bond yields reaching 15%. Elon Musk replied with "yikes," immediately igniting market concerns over increasing difficulty in AI companies issuing bonds. Hong Kong-listed AI software and hardware stocks followed the downturn in overseas markets. Lenovo Group (00992), whose momentum had clearly weakened, plunged nearly 15%, currently down 13.5%, at HK$26.30, falling below its 100-day moving average for the first time in six months.

　　Other AI-related stocks also fell across the board; Hua Hong (01347) dropped 8.6% to HK$75.90; SMIC (00981) fell 4.4% to HK$51.90; Yangtze Optical Fibre (06869) plunged 12.4% to HK$123.70; Kingboard Laminates (01888) declined 7.9% to HK$39.00; Tencent (00700) slipped 0.9% to HK$419.80; Alibaba (09988) dropped 4% to HK$106.10.

　　Xiaomi's (01810) new car series "Pengcheng" has seen strong sales, attracting continuous capital inflows. Amid this hot money inflow, the stock continued to rise against the market trend this morning. Even after the broader market lost the 24,000 level, Xiaomi's share price remained firm in positive territory, currently up 2.5% at HK$27.04, rising for three consecutive days with a cumulative gain of 10%.

　　Biotech stocks also rose against the market trend, with the biotech index falling only about 0.5%, outperforming the broader market; BeiGene (06160) rose 3.3% to HK$216.40; Sino Biopharm (01177) gained 2.3% to HK$5.285; Hansoh Pharma (03692) advanced 2.2% to HK$31.26.

　　Currently, the Hang Seng Index stands at 23,999, down 314 points or 1.3%, with turnover on the main board nearing HK$109.8 billion. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index is at 8,074, down 108 points or 1.3%. The Hang Seng Tech Index is at 4,061, down 113 points or 2.7%.
 

Table: Performance of the Top 10 Declining Blue-Chip Stocks

Stock (Code)	Current Price (HK$)	Change (%)
Lenovo Group (00992)	26.30	Down 13.49%
Hua Hong (01347)	75.90	Down 8.61%
Weichai Power (02338)	24.54	Down 7.19%
Contemporary Amperex (03750)	435.00	Down 6.85%
CMOC (03993)	14.21	Down 6.70%
Chalco (02600)	7.17	Down 6.40%
China Hongqiao (01378)	19.62	Down 6.12%
Baidu (09888)	78.10	Down 4.81%
SMIC (00981)	51.90	Down 4.42%
Orient Overseas (00316)	161.10	Down 4.22%

(hc)