Hong Kong's three major stock indices closed lower collectively. By the market close, the Hang Seng Index had fallen 1.27% to 25,006.16 points, the Hang Seng Tech Index declined 0.39%, and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index dropped 1.17%. In terms of sector performance, most technology and internet stocks declined, with Meituan falling over 5%, while Alibaba, Tencent, Bilibili, and Baidu each dropped more than 2%. Lenovo bucked the trend, rising over 3%. Gold stocks saw broad declines, with China Gold International Resources Corp. Ltd. (02099) falling over 6%. Innovative drug concept stocks continued to weaken, with Wuxi XDC (02268) dropping more than 7%. Some AI application stocks advanced, with Knowledge Atlas (02513) surging over 13%.

Gold stocks experienced widespread declines, with China Gold International Resources Corp. Ltd. (02099) falling over 6%. Spot gold retreated below $4,440 per ounce. This pullback was not driven by a single factor but resulted from the combined pressure of three elements: a shift in macro interest rate expectations, a reduction in geopolitical risk premiums, and profit-taking by investors. Additionally, the minutes from the Federal Reserve's May meeting revealed that officials had begun discussing the possibility of further policy tightening, and new signals from the Fed's leadership also carried a hawkish tone. For gold, interest rate hikes imply a higher opportunity cost of holding a non-yielding asset. Simultaneously, the concurrent rise in the U.S. dollar index and U.S. Treasury yields has directly diminished gold's appeal.

Innovative drug concept stocks continued their weak performance, with Wuxi XDC (02268) falling over 7%. Energy inflation triggered by Middle East conflicts is evolving from an expectation into a tangible pressure, prompting major central banks in developed economies globally to signal potential interest rate hikes. Guohai Securities noted in a risk advisory that if the pace of global and domestic macro-monetary policy adjustments falls short of expectations, it would directly impact the valuation levels and investment environment of the pharmaceutical sector. Growth-oriented sectors like innovative drugs and CXO are particularly sensitive to liquidity. A potential delay in the Federal Reserve's rate-cutting cycle or a slower-than-expected pace of domestic monetary easing could lead to tighter market liquidity, directly suppressing valuations in these growth sectors.

Some AI application stocks posted gains, with Knowledge Atlas (02513) surging over 13%. On May 22, Hang Seng Indexes Company announced its quarterly review results, indicating that Knowledge Atlas will be included in the Hang Seng Tech Index, with the change taking effect from June 8. According to the fast-entry rules, if included in the index, Knowledge Atlas could become eligible for Southbound Stock Connect trading as early as June 8. Furthermore, recently, Knowledge Atlas announced the opening of its GLM-5.1-highspeed API to select enterprise clients. The model's output speed reaches 400 tokens per second, setting a new global benchmark for API speed among major model providers.