Middle East tensions remained elevated, while sharp post-results downswings in Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL.US) and Tesla, Inc. (TSLA.US) weighed on the three major US stock indices, which fell about 1-2%.

Dampened by external market weakness, the HSI opened down 278 pts this morning (24th) and remained subdued throughout the session. The index once dived nearly 400 pts to an intraday trough of 24,812 before closing at 24,963, down 247 pts or 0.98%. Total market turnover for the day shrank to HKD209.877 billion. The HSCEI closed at 8,271, down 81 pts or 0.98%. The HSTECH closed at 4,629, down 68 pts or 1.47%.

Hong Kong-listed tech shares echoed the weakness in overseas technology stocks. TENCENT (00700.HK) closed down 2.38%; BABA-W (09988.HK) slumped 4.26%; BIDU-SW (09888.HK) and KUAISHOU-W (01024.HK) each slid more than 2%.

Solar and glass sectors saw more notable declines. XINYI GLASS (00868.HK) closed down 5.14%, making it the worst-performing blue chip; XINYI SOLAR (00968.HK) tumbled 4.09%. Rising expectations for US interest rate hikes also dragged down resource and metal stocks broadly. CMOC (03993.HK) fell off 4.49%; CHALCO (02600.HK) and ZIJIN MINING (02899.HK) shed more than 3%; CHINAHONGQIAO (01378.HK) slipped 2.67%. Gold jewelry stocks came under pressure, with LAOPU GOLD (06181.HK) cratering 4.29%; CHOW TAI FOOK (01929.HK) closed down 2.32% for the day after Daiwa downgraded the stock to Outperform.

Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese property developers were also suppressed by interest rate hike concerns. CHINA RES LAND (01109.HK), LONGFOR GROUP (00960.HK) and HANG LUNG PPT (00101.HK) each lost more than 3%; CHINA OVERSEAS (00688.HK) lost 2.06%; SHK PPT (00016.HK) also faded 1.87%.

BOC HONG KONG (02388.HK) set a record high, rising against the broader market by 5.98% to close at HKD51.25, after JPMorgan upgraded the stock to Overweight and raised its TP to HKD53.3; BANK OF E ASIA (00023.HK) also shot up 6.03%. However, international banks were softer, with HSBC HOLDINGS (00005.HK) dipping 0.06% and STANCHART (02888.HK) falling 1.15%.
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The "Magnificent 7" suffered their biggest single-day slump in stock prices overnight (23rd) since tariff threats in April 2025, losing USD797 billion in market cap, as major Wall Street firms grew concern over massive spending by major technology companies in the AI sector.

Meanwhile, the reignited Iran conflict also cast a shadow over the global macroeconomic outlook. The Roundhill Magnificent Seven ETF (MAGS.US), which tracks the "Magnificent 7", plunged 4.6% overnight (23rd).

Earnings released by Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL.US) and Tesla, Inc. (TSLA.US) after the close on Wednesday (22nd) sparked panic among traders and raised doubts over whether the AI-driven trade that propelled equities higher over the past three years can sustain.

Alphabet raised its capex forecast for this year to as much as USD205 billion, whereas Tesla CEO Elon Musk also said this year would be a year of massive capex.

Tesla, Inc. (TSLA.US) cascaded 14.5%, marking its worst single-day performance since March 2025, while Alphabet nosedived 7.1%, its largest decline since May 2025. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.US) dropped 2.2%, Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN.US) slumped 4.6%, and Meta Platforms, Inc. (META.US) also slid 3.4%. All three companies are scheduled to release earnings next week.
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As oil prices advance, investors are increasingly preparing for a Federal Reserve rate hike.

According to CME's FedWatch tool, federal funds rate futures indicate that the probability of the Fed raising rates at its September policy meeting is about 82%, up from less than 53% a week ago.

The market still generally expects the Fed to keep interest rates unchanged at 3.50-3.75% at next week's meeting. Even so, expectations for rate hikes have reinforced, with federal funds rate futures trading implying a nearly 38% probability of a 0.25-ppt rate hike, compared with less than 12% a week earlier.

Global crude benchmark Brent oil futures climbed above USD100 per barrel on Thursday for the first time since late May, as a new round of retaliatory attacks between the US and Iran escalated. AAA data showed that average US gasoline prices rose to USD4 per gallon this week, the highest level in more than a month.
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Chinese server customers are signing long-term procurement commitments for CPUs with US chip giants Intel Corporation (INTC.US) and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD.US), Reuters, citing sources, reported.

The long-term agreements under discussion reportedly usually lock in procurement volumes rather than prices, report said. Most agreements are supply commitments of around one year, although Intel and AMD are also discussing two-year or longer commitments with some customers.
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Tesla, Inc. (TSLA.US) CEO Elon Musk said Micron Technology, Inc. (MU.US) has recently allocated a large amount of memory chips to Tesla, with very reasonable supply terms that help meet the company's chip demand.

The rapid development of global AI systems has driven demand for memory chips. Musk is working on producing in-house semiconductors and has launched a project named Terafab aimed at manufacturing chips at an unprecedented scale.
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Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL.US) and Tesla, Inc. (TSLA.US) kicked off the tech earnings release season on Wednesday (22nd), with one theme swiftly coming up: AI spending is coming under intense market scrutiny.

Both companies reported negative free cash flow in the latest quarter and warned investors that capital expenditures will continue to expand. Although revenue at both companies beat expectations, it failed to prevent after-hours share declines, with Tesla diving 4% and Alphabet slipping more than 3%.

The situation may serve as a warning sign for the tech sector, especially as most other mega-cap tech companies are set to release quarterly results next week. Meta Platforms, Inc. (META.US) and Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.US) will report on Wednesday (29th), while Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN.US) and Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) will announce earnings the following day (30th).

So far, the AI boom has largely been driven by historic infrastructure spending from a handful of companies, including major investments in model developers such as OpenAI and Anthropic. However, the recent launch of lower-cost open-source models in China, paired with growing caution among US enterprises on AI service spending, has sparked concerns over future returns on such investments.

Before earnings were released on Wednesday, Alphabet shares had already declined for a third consecutive month after surging in April, while Tesla shares were down 11% in July and had lost 17% YTD. The tech-heavy Nasdaq has retreated around 5% since hitting a record high in early June.
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NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) CEO Jensen Huang said the US does not need to fear China's open-source AI models, but should instead fear the expanding wave of restrictions and bans. He said China's AI models are highly impressive and that outstanding open-source models should be adopted.

Earlier, OpenAI and Anthropic accused Chinese rivals of stealing their models and warned that China's open-source models threaten the US lead in the AI sector. However, Huang rejected this view, saying open-source models allow more people to experience AI for the first time, thereby expanding the market size.

Prior to this, Moonshot AI launched its new-generation large language model (LLM) Kimi K3, triggering the most intense AI panic since DeepSeek shook financial markets in January 2025. Kimi K3 combines three rare characteristics: near state-of-the-art performance, substantially lower pricing, and open-source weights that developers can quickly download and customize.

Huang said it is impossible for China to push US companies out of the market, with the probability being zero. He added that Wall Street and the White House have completely misunderstood Kimi K3. He said cheaper open-source models will allow more individuals and enterprises to benefit from AI, while increasing market demand for NVIDIA chips, data centers and computing power.
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TESLA, INC. (TSLA.US)'s 2Q revenue rose 26% YoY to USD28.24 billion, beating market expectations of USD25.71 billion, while profit fell 5% to USD1.11 billion. Adjusted EPS was USD0.33, below the expected USD0.51.

Following the earnings release, TESLA shares dived 4.13% in after-hours trading to USD358.55.

TESLA's free cash flow turned negative USD1.1 billion in 2Q, while capital expenditure surged 142% to USD5.79 billion.

CFO Vaibhav Taneja said operating expenses will continue to elevate this year and beyond as higher commodity prices and interest rate changes continue to increase company costs.

CEO Elon Musk said during the earnings conference call that the company will soon announce more details regarding its chip factory and has already ordered equipment for the facility.

Meanwhile, the company is installing the first-generation production line for the Optimus robot and will begin production soon. He said it will be the most difficult product the company has ever manufactured to scale, since all robot components are entirely new and there is currently no ready-made supply chain.
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The South Korean presidential office said President Lee Jae Myung will begin a five-country trip this week.

He will first depart for San Francisco on Friday (24th) for a two-day visit, during which he will meet OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) CEO Jensen Huang.

Lee Jae Myung will then pay a state visit to Brazil and hold a summit with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, followed by visits to Chile and Argentina. The final stop of the trip will be Frankfurt, Germany.
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Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) iPhone 18 series entered mass production this month and is currently in the capacity ramp-up stage, China Securities Journal reported. As a result, Foxconn's Zhengzhou facility has entered a peak hiring season to meet subsequent production demand.

According to data from research firm Counterpoint, overall smartphone shipments in China's market fell 2% YoY in 2Q, while iPhone shipments rose 23% YoY, with market share reaching 18%, ranking second only to Huawei.
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