The healthcare sector in Hong Kong stocks suffered a broad selloff, with GENSCRIPT BIO (01548) plunging 15.10% to HK$41.72, while JOINN (06127) dropped 12.73% to HK$28.1.

Overnight, a sharp decline in the U.S. healthcare sector dragged down Hong Kong's healthcare stocks, which had performed well the previous day. As of press time, CANSINOBIO (06185) fell 7.88% to HK$37.4, and HBM HOLDINGS-B (02142) declined 6.96% to HK$12.7.

On the news front, reports indicated that a staff member at a plague research institute in Russia's Irkutsk region in Siberia died, leading to nearly 200 contacts being placed under quarantine for observation. Russian authorities have implemented quarantine measures at several hospitals in the area, though health officials have downplayed the severity of the situation. There is still no definitive evidence confirming that the deceased laboratory employee was infected with pneumonic plague.

Additionally, Citigroup issued a research report in late September downgrading Moderna's rating from "Neutral" to "Sell" and significantly lowering its target price from $80 to $60. The bank believes that the market's current valuation logic is overly optimistic, not only pricing in in advance the successful expansion of its melanoma vaccine across multiple tumor types but also implying "unrealistic" sales forecasts.