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The S&P 500 breached the 7,000-point mark for the first time on Wednesday, driven by unrelenting optimism over artificial ‌intelligence and expectations of strong Big Tech earnings as well as monetary ‍policy easing. The benchmark index's ascent between successive 1,000-point additions has quickened in recent years, reflecting mounting investor confidence in the US economy and corporate America. It took about three years for the S&P 500 ⁠to rise to 5,000 points from 4,000, but only about nine......

Chips from Chinese semiconductor designer Hygon Information Technology were found unaffected by a recently disclosed vulnerability in products developed by its US tech licenser and former joint venture partner Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), according to analysts, which showed progress in China's self-reliance drive. Hygon's central processing units (CPUs), which were developed under a licence to use AMD's X86-based Zen chip architecture, did not have the hardware security flaw that affected a......

Amazon is slashing about 16,000 corporate jobs in the second round of mass lay-offs for the e-commerce company in three months. The tech giant has said it plans to use generative artificial intelligence to replace corporate workers. It has also been reducing a workforce that increased during the pandemic. Beth Galetti, a senior vice-president at Amazon, said in a blog post on Wednesday that the company has been “reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy”. The company did......

Thailand's Charoen Pokphand Group plans to invest in the Hong Kong listing of Chinese pig breeder Muyuan Foods, people familiar with the matter said, in what is shaping up to be one of the city's largest share sales this year. CP Group was poised to participate as a cornerstone investor – which typically receives a guaranteed allocation in exchange for agreeing to hold shares for a set period – in the listing, the people said, asking not to be identified to discuss a private matter. Other......

Moonshot AI's newest release, Kimi K2.5, has narrowed the gap between the US and China to the closest it has ever been in the development of artificial intelligence models, according to third-party evaluations. That feat by the Beijing-based start-up, founded in March 2023, has raised questions about the efficacy of US policies – most notably, export controls on advanced semiconductors – to constrain China's AI development efforts, said Kyle Chan, a fellow of the John L Thornton China Centre at......

A Hong Kong office unit at Admiralty Centre has changed hands for HK$292.17 million (US$37.46 million), making it the most expensive commercial property transaction registered on Tuesday, according to official records, in a deal that adds to tentative signs of stabilisation in the city's battered real estate market. The office space, located in Tower 1 of the Admiralty Centre within the city's core business district, was acquired by Luck Ring Development, Land Registry records showed. The unit......

Beijing has begun approving imports of Nvidia's H200 graphics processing units (GPUs), according to two sources familiar with the matter, ending regulatory uncertainty over the US tech giant's second most powerful artificial intelligence chip. The first batch was expected to go to Big Tech companies, which were in urgent need of the GPU, a source said. However, access for state-backed companies, such as telecommunication network operators, was expected to remain under tight control, the source......

Education in China's countryside should shift away from rote-based learning to focus on nurturing curiosity and creativity in the artificial intelligence era, Alibaba Group Holding founder Jack Ma said in a meeting with rural teachers on Monday. In remarks published by the Jack Ma Foundation on Tuesday, former English teacher Ma said the dawn of the AI era posed a challenge for rural education, but also presented an opportunity to “return to the fundamentals of education”. Alibaba owns the South......

Ras Al Khaimah, one of seven city-states in the United Arab Emirates, is stepping ‌up efforts to lure Chinese and Hong Kong investors into its ‍real estate, green and digital sectors as the UAE and China seek to deepen cooperation. The fourth largest of the seven Emirates, Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) aims to attract over 3.5 million tourists each year ⁠by 2030, up from 1.3 million in 2024. US and Hong Kong-listed integrated casino and hotel operator, Wynn Resorts, is set to open a casino there, the......

Several Chinese cloud service providers are “evaluating price increases”, according to analysts, following recent moves by Google and Amazon Web Services (AWS), as the explosive growth of artificial intelligence drives demand. Google on Tuesday announced price rises of up to 100 per cent for certain services, effective May 1. For example, North American users of the CDN Interconnect, Direct Peering, and Carrier Peering services will pay US$0.08 per gigabyte, double the current rate. In Asia, the......

Pop Mart extended its rally in Hong Kong on Wednesday after unveiling an accelerated push into the US market, underscoring how overseas expansion is helping the Chinese toymaker offset lingering pressures at home. The maker of Labubu figurines plans to open more than 20 new stores across the United States this year, under a partnership with US mall operator Simon Property Group, which announced the roll-out in mid-January. The outlets will be located in major shopping centres including King of......

The price of gold has surged 20 per cent this month, surpassing US$5,200 for the first time, fuelled by dollar weakness, central bank buying and retail speculation. The metal jumped 3.4 per cent on Tuesday, the most since April, after US President Donald Trump said that a weaker greenback is “great”. The comment spurred a rush to ditch the currency in favour of “safe haven” gold. Speculation that Trump will appoint a rate-cutting Federal Reserve chairman and general policy uncertainty have also......

The Exchange Fund posted its best-ever annual gain since the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) began releasing the data in 2003, as solid stock market returns boosted the city's financial war chest used to defend the local currency. The Exchange Fund's full-year earnings for 2025 jumped 51 per cent to HK$331 billion (US$42 billion), compared with HK$218.8 billion in 2024, the HKMA said on Wednesday. The returns surpassed full-year gains of HK$264 billion in 2017. More to follow ......

French luxury giant LVMH recorded an uptick in sales in China during the last three months of 2025, in a further sign that the vast Chinese luxury market is starting to stabilise after a sharp slowdown the previous year. The group reported on Tuesday that its total annual sales last year reached €80.8 billion (US$97 billion), down 5 per cent year on year on a reported basis. But performance improved in the second half of the year as sales returned to organic growth, rising 1 per cent. This was......

Some of the biggest names in esports will descend on Hong Kong next month for the finals of the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) Cup. Following on from the successful Blast Premier event at Cyberport last November, the LCK Cup represents another step up for gaming in the city. Kai Tak Arena will host the tournament, from February 28 to March 1, the first time the event has been held outside South Korea. Chow Kai-hong, chairman of the Hong Kong Esports Association, said they had received......

The Hong Kong Investment Corporation (HKIC) is eyeing investments in fintech, aerospace and artificial intelligence, tapping the city's strengths and a wave of incoming talent and enterprises as geopolitical shifts create new opportunities, according to its CEO. The city's wholly owned investment vehicle, which manages HK$62 billion (US$8 billion) in funds, would look at these new sectors in addition to its other focus areas, “playing to Hong Kong's advantages in the context of the global......

Hong Kong's lived-in home prices ended a three-year downturn with a 3.25 per cent increase in 2025, as the property market gallops into the new year buoyed by expectations of more transactions and further price gains, according to analysts. Rents climbed to a record high in December, boosting annual gains to 4.26 per cent in 2025 and marking a third consecutive year of increase, according to the Rating and Valuation Department on Wednesday. “Hong Kong's residential market strengthened notably......

China has emerged as the world's second most competitive country for artificial intelligence in finance, ranking behind the US but well ahead of the rest of Asia, according to a global index. China scored 83.41 in the Global AI Competitiveness Index, trailing the US at 98.84 and ahead of the UK at 78.26, a report released on Wednesday by think tank Deep Knowledge Group showed. Switzerland ranked fourth, followed by Singapore, Germany, Saudi Arabia and India. The world's second-largest economy......

As Chinese companies accelerate their overseas expansion, industry leaders are urging a more partnership-driven approach rather than simply building factories abroad – a strategy they say could help ease growing concerns about excess capacity. As it pushes further into global markets, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group will prioritise partnerships over rapid capacity build-outs, vice-chairman Daniel Li Donghui said at the Asian Financial Forum (AFF) in Hong Kong on Tuesday. “We don't think it's the......

Hong Kong stocks rose on Wednesday to their highest level in more than four years, tracking overnight gains on Wall Street, with investors expecting shares to rally further on the back of robust corporate earnings this year. The Hang Seng Index rose 0.7 per cent to 27,325.89 at the open, the highest level since July 2021. The Hang Seng Tech Index gained 0.6 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index strengthened 0.4 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.3 per cent. Lender HSBC rose......