The Hang Seng Index fell 340 points in half a day, AIA dropped over 4%, ZIJIN MINING plunged 6%, while restaurant stocks were favored against the market trend | Hong Kong stock market opens

The Hang Seng Index opened 219 points lower this morning and showed fluctuating downward performance, reporting 26,506 points at noon, down 340 points or 1.27%, with half-day turnover of HKD 168.2 billion; the Tech Index reported 5,304 points at noon, down 62 points or 1.16%. Among blue-chip stocks, AIA (1299) fell 4.4% at noon, while Tencent (700) and Alibaba (9988) dropped 2.9% and 2.5% respectively, making them one of the "culprits" of the market decline. In terms of stock price fluctuations, Zijin (2899) fell over 6% at noon, making it the worst-performing blue-chip, while China Hongqiao (1378) and New Oriental (9901) also fell 4.8% and 4.4% respectively. Gold and Silver Prices Decline, CHI SILVER GP Drops Over 7% In the precious metals market retreat, gold prices have fallen below USD 5,000 again, currently reported at USD 4,887, while silver prices dropped over 12%, currently at 77.5. Besides Zijin, several precious metal-related stocks also plummeted, with CHI SILVER GP (815) dropping over 7%, Zijin Gold International (2259) down 6%, and Chifeng Jilong Gold (6693) and Shandong Gold (1787) down 5.8% and 5.3% respectively. On the other hand, mainland restaurant stocks were favored against the market trend, with YUM CHINA (9987) rising over 9% after earnings, and Da Shi (1405) up 3%, while Haidilao (6862) and Shanghai Xiao Nan Guo (3666) also rose nearly 3%. CITIC Securities pointed out that the restaurant industry is currently in a stage of "marginal improvement in fundamentals - continuous policy efforts - price mechanism restoration - expected valuation enhancement," with positive signals released across the four dimensions of industry operations, policies, prices, and valuations. Leading enterprises with supply chain, brand strength, and operational management advantages will be the first to achieve recovery. Related article: YUM CHINA earned 2% more last year, final dividend increased by 21%, WOW model helps expand into lower-tier cities. ----- The market is worried about the disruptive impact of AI, leading to a sell-off in software stocks, with several heavyweight tech stocks in the US declining. AMD plummeted over 17% after earnings, Palantir (PLTR) fell nearly 12%, Oracle (ORCL) dropped by half, and Tesla (TSLA) and Nvidia (NVDA) also fell over 3%, while Apple (AAPL) rose 2.6% to USD 276.49 against the trend. US Traditional Consumer Stocks Favored, Nike Rises Over 5% On the other hand, traditional consumer stocks were favored, with Nike (NKE) and 3M (MMM) both rising over 5%. Recently strong Walmart (WMT) rose another 0.2%, driving the Dow Jones to close up 260 points or 0.53%, reporting 49,501 points; the S&P 500 fell 35 points or 0.51%, reporting 6,882 points; the Nasdaq dropped 350 points or 1.51%, reporting 22,904 points. As for the Golden Dragon Index, which reflects the performance of Chinese concept stocks, it fell 1.95% to 7,461 points on Wednesday In the Hong Kong stock market, the Hang Seng Index opened 219 points lower this morning, reporting at 26,627 points. Technology stocks continued to be weak, with Alibaba (9988) down 2.5%; Tencent (700) down 1.4%; Meituan (3690) down 2%; JD.com (9618) down 1.5%; and Xiaomi (1810) also down 0.5%. Additionally, New Oriental (9901) opened down over 4%, making it the weakest blue chip. Baidu Plans Share Buyback and First Dividend Notably, Baidu (9888) announced that it has authorized a new share buyback plan, allowing for the repurchase of up to $5 billion of its shares, effective until December 31, 2028; at the same time, it has approved the adoption of a dividend policy for its common stock, with the first dividend expected to be announced in 2026. The stock opened at 140.3 yuan, up 2.3%. BYD's Sales in Germany Surge, Far Exceeding Tesla In other stock news, BYD (1211) sold 2,629 new cars in Germany last month, more than 10 times the 235 units sold in the same period last year, and significantly more than the 1,301 units sold by Tesla. The stock opened at 89.2 yuan, down 0.9%. Regarding the northbound capital flow, there was a net purchase of Hong Kong stocks amounting to 13.373 billion yuan yesterday, with Tencent (700), Alibaba (9988), and Southern Hang Seng Technology (3033) receiving net purchases of 2.231 billion yuan, 1.171 billion yuan, and 1.123 billion yuan respectively; while SMIC (981) and Hua Hong Semiconductor (1347) faced net sales of 707 million yuan and 236 million yuan respectively