Hong Kong stocks turned higher at midday after U.S. August CPI rose 3.4% year on year and 0.4% month on month, both in line with market expectations, while core CPI rose 0.3% month on month and came in slightly above forecasts, according to ETNet.
The Hang Seng Index was up 87 points, or 0.4%, at 24,893, with turnover on the main board above HK$107 billion. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 0.4% to 8,279, and the Hang Seng Tech Index gained 0.2% to 4,327.
AI names were under pressure after Zhishu (02513) resumed fundraising following the expiry of its July placement lock-up period, with another share placement and a convertible bond issue. The stock fell 7.25% to HK$735.5 and has dropped for 10 straight sessions, down 38.45% in that span. MiniMax (00100) fell 5.56%, Tensortec (09903) lost 3.27%, and Biren Technology (06082) declined 4.85%.
Among major tech shares, Alibaba fell 1.49% to HK$105.9, Tencent rose 0.84% to HK$432, Baidu gained 1.01% to HK$90, Meituan slipped 0.73% to HK$74.55, and JD.com was unchanged at HK$106.2. Biotechnology stocks rallied, with WuXi Biologics up 4.81%, WuXi AppTec up 4.61%, China Biologic Products up 3.52%, Hansoh Pharmaceutical up 3.48%, and Innovent Biologics up 2.3%.
Lenovo rose 4.6% after saying a new handset developed with Google is set to launch, while Xiaomi gained 2.88%.