Hong Kong's three major stock indices closed lower on September 23. By the close of trading, the Hang Seng Index fell 1.01% to 24,834.12, the Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 1.33%, and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index declined 1.06%.
On the market, tech and internet stocks saw more decliners than advancers, with Alibaba falling over 4% and Xiaomi slipping more than 3%, while Lenovo edged up 0.49%. PCB concept stocks bucked the trend with strong gains, as Kingboard Laminates surged over 11%. Real estate developers led the gains, with Ronshine China jumping more than 22%. AI application stocks were among the worst performers, with Zhipu tumbling over 12%.
PCB concept stocks outperformed the broader market, with Kingboard Laminates climbing more than 11%. Morgan Stanley noted in its latest report that it expects the global total addressable market for copper-clad laminates to grow from $19 billion in 2025 to $47 billion by 2030, representing a 20% compound annual growth rate, significantly higher than the market consensus of $35 billion to $40 billion. The firm added that AI and data center applications would contribute 90% of the incremental growth.
Real estate developers were among the top gainers, with Ronshine China rising over 22%. Market speculation emerged that a national interest subsidy policy could be implemented, with the Ministry of Finance providing subsidies of 20-50 basis points and local governments adding another 20-50 basis points, bringing the total subsidy to as much as 100 basis points and potentially lowering first-home mortgage rates to around 2%. Additional rumors suggested that mortgage interest subsidies could be rolled out soon, with a total quota of 100 billion yuan and a 20 basis point subsidy for first homes. However, property sector analysts from several brokerages viewed the likelihood of a nationwide subsidy policy as low, with one analyst noting that extending loan tenures at the national level would generate interest savings comparable to subsidies or rate cuts.
AI application stocks led the declines, with Zhipu dropping over 12%. Two of America's top AI laboratories released lower-priced versions of their flagship models on the same day. On Tuesday, Anthropic launched its new-generation model Claude Opus 5.5, with usage costs approximately 40% lower than its predecessor. Meanwhile, OpenAI unveiled two low-cost versions of ChatGPT-6, named Sol and Luna, priced 50% below the ChatGPT-5.6 series. Additionally, foreign media reports citing sources indicated that Chinese AI startup DeepSeek would brief the United Nations Security Council this week on the risks posed by artificial intelligence.
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