Hang Seng opened up 0.7% and Hang Seng Tech opened 0.78% before both indices pulled back. At midday the Hang Seng was up 0.29% at 24,518.87 and the Hang Seng Tech was up 0.7% at 4,069.03; turnover HK$92.98 bln. PCB names, aviation and chip stocks led gains; oil & gas, robotics and shipping & ports underperformed. Notable movers: Zhipu (02513.HK) +11.89%, MINIMAX-W (00100.HK) +7.06%, SMIC (00981.HK) +3.91%, Alibaba (09988.HK) -3.44%, JD.com (09618.HK) -1.87%.

A U.S. official said Washington is 'cautiously optimistic' about upcoming Russia-Ukraine peace talks in Abu Dhabi, saying there is an opportunity to make significant progress and that recent weeks have shown some flexibility from both sides on territorial issues. The official warned territorial agreements are unlikely before security guarantees are settled. The U.S. said European allies will play a key role in any post-war security arrangement and wants Russia to agree to include European representatives in the next round of talks after Abu Dhabi.

英伟达在韩国科学技术信息通信部与英伟达共同举办的AI初创企业合作论坛上宣布，计划对韩国初创企业进行新一轮投资。