Hong Kong's three major stock indexes showed mixed performance at midday. As of the noon close, the Hang Seng Index rose 0.07% to 25,457.33 points, the Hang Seng Tech Index gained 0.3%, and the State-owned Enterprises Index dipped 0.04%.

In terms of sectors, tech and internet stocks were mixed, with Lenovo surging over 3% while Tencent fell more than 3%. The optical communication sector continued its upward trend, with Zhongji Innolight climbing over 5%. The semiconductor sector led the gains, with Daysi Zhixin advancing over 8%. Conversely, gold stocks declined, with Lingbao Gold dropping more than 6%.

The optical communication sector extended its rally, with Zhongji Innolight rising over 5%. This follows the release of quarterly results from optical communication giant Coherent Corp, which reported its financials for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026 (ending June). The results showed a surge in demand for optical interconnects in AI data centers, driving revenue acceleration and margin expansion, with the company achieving a record quarterly revenue of $20.5 billion. Coherent Corp forecasts first-quarter revenue of $22 billion to $24 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $1.85 to $2.05, both exceeding market expectations.

The semiconductor sector was among the top performers, with Daysi Zhixin rising more than 8%. Overnight, the U.S. July CPI cooled as expected (year-on-year 3.4%), further weakening expectations for interest rate hikes, which led to a broad rally in U.S. memory chip and optical communication stocks. Additionally, reports indicate that SK Hynix has resumed construction of its second factory at the NAND flash production base in Dalian, China, aiming to expand capacity by about 50%. The company plans to introduce semiconductor production equipment by the end of this year and begin full-scale production in the first half of next year.

Gold stocks declined, with Lingbao Gold falling over 6%. Early this morning, precious metal prices took a sharp dive, with spot gold (London) briefly dropping below $4,400 per ounce, falling 0.24% at one point. While the U.S. July CPI data released overnight was broadly in line with expectations, showing a slowdown in year-on-year growth, which alleviated some pressure for rate hikes, market sentiment did not turn significantly optimistic after the news was digested. After a brief period of fluctuation, gold prices saw their gains narrow and even turned negative due to short-term profit-taking and macroeconomic uncertainty.