Today (October 2), Hong Kong stocks resumed trading after the National Day holiday (markets were closed on October 1), with all three major indexes closing lower after opening down and drifting further south throughout the session. The Hang Seng Index closed at 23,972.29 points, down 640.98 points or 2.60%, marking its largest single-day decline since March 23. The China Enterprises Index closed at 8,030.54 points, down 2.31%, while the Hang Seng Tech Index closed at 4,157.94 points, down 2.26%. From a technical perspective, the Hang Seng opened at 24,099.73 points, which proved to be the day's high, before declining in waves to an intraday low of 23,865.33 points with little bounce. With mainland markets closed for the National Day holiday and the southbound capital channel suspended, the market lacked domestic support, amplifying the impact of external negative factors. On the sector front, financial stocks led the declines and became the core force dragging the index lower. HSBC Holdings (HK: 00005) fell 5.38% to HK$149.50, making it the biggest drag on the Hang Seng Index. AIA Group dropped 5.98% to HK$69.20, while Standard Chartered declined 5.97% to HK$229.80 and Dah Sing Banking Group lost 4.79%. Chinese financial stocks also retreated broadly, with Postal Savings Bank of China down 2.98% and CITIC Securities down 2.70%. On the news front, overnight bond yields in Europe and the United States surged sharply: the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield hit its highest level since 2002, the 30-year Treasury yield rose to its highest since 2002, the U.K. 30-year gilt yield broke above 6% for the first time since 1998, and the French 10-year government bond yield climbed to 4.96%. Changes in interest rate expectations directly hit the valuation of insurance companies' bond holdings and the logic of bank interest rate spreads, and with Hong Kong's market allowing free capital flows, risk-averse selling pressure emerged quickly. The technology sector weakened across the board: Bilibili fell 4.60%, Kuaishou dropped 4.40%, Xiaomi Corporation declined 3.96%, and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing lost 3.09%. Tencent Holdings, Alibaba Group, and Meituan each fell around 2%. Several recently listed AI concept stocks saw notable volatility, with names such as Zhipu, which had surged the previous day, dropping more than 5% at one point before paring losses by the close. Among individual stocks, the most closely watched was Huanchuang Technology (HK: 06802), which had just listed on September 30. After surging 265.68% on its debut, the stock plunged on October 2, closing at HK$113.00 with a decline of 47.49%, as its total market capitalization shrank from approximately HK$20.78 billion to about HK$10.9 billion. Looking ahead, Everbright Securities noted that Hong Kong stocks may receive a short-term boost from improved China-U.S. relations. While coordinated global central bank rate hikes have brought liquidity tightening pressure, Hong Kong equities are trading at low valuations and have already largely priced in negative factors. In addition, high-level China-U.S. interactions heated up notably in September, with eased trade relations and improved risk appetite providing temporary support for Hong Kong stocks. In terms of allocation direction, a moderate tilt toward growth is advised. With short-term rate hike uncertainty marginally eliminated, long-end U.S. Treasury yields oscillating at high levels, and improved China-U.S. relations expected to lift market sentiment, valuation pressure on growth stocks has eased somewhat. The October allocation approach shifts from a "defensive barbell" strategy toward "growth as the main offensive, with dividend and resource positions as low-allocation buffers," as market pricing shifts from "fearing rate hikes" to "picking earnings." Wing Fung Financial Group stated that stepping into the first trading day of October, many investors' first impression is that October is traditionally known as a "stock market crash month." This year, caution is needed for both October and the fourth quarter, as global bond yields are trending upward and asset valuations are broadly declining under the discounted cash flow model, with stock markets (both U.S. and Hong Kong) being no exception.