Hong Kong's three major stock indexes closed higher collectively on September 22. By the market close, the Hang Seng Index rose 0.18% to 25,087.75 points, the Hang Seng Tech Index gained 0.34%, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index slipped 0.28%.
In sector performance, internet stocks mostly advanced, with Tencent surging over 5% and Lenovo climbing more than 2%, while Xiaomi and Meituan each fell over 1%. Memory concept shares led the gains, with Montage Technology jumping more than 8%.
Where the action is
Memory concept stocks topped the market, driven by Montage Technology's sharp rise of over 8%. The rally was fueled by Meta Platforms, Inc.'s newly launched AI agent, Muse, which has quickly gained traction. According to Sensor Tower data, Muse has ranked as the most-downloaded free app on Apple's iPhone platform in the United States for three consecutive days; as of Monday, it topped both the free app charts on Apple's iOS App Store and Google Play in the U.S.
In the U.S. stock market, Meta Platforms, Inc. shares soared more than 11%, lifting AI-related stocks across the board. Intel, Advanced Micro Devices, and Arm closed up 12.1%, 10%, and 17.2%, respectively, with Advanced Micro Devices' market capitalization breaching the $1 trillion mark for the first time at the close.
Gold stocks weakened, with Zijin Gold International dropping over 5%. Federal Reserve official and Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said on September 20 that inflation across all sectors of the U.S. economy remains too high, not just due to rising oil prices. Kashkari noted in an interview, "Even if we strip out volatile energy and exclude food, inflation is still too high for where the economy is headed."
Notably, following the Fed's "hawkish rate hike" last Wednesday, Goldman Sachs swiftly revised its interest rate path forecast. The investment bank now expects the Fed to deliver another 25-basis-point rate increase at its October policy meeting.
New listing performance
Nazhen Technology rose over 4% on its first trading day. The company completed a global offering of approximately 172 million H-shares at an issue price of HK$32.96 per share, raising total proceeds of about HK$5.67 billion. Citigroup and CITIC Securities served as joint sponsors. Cornerstone investors, including Chunhua Investment, E Fund, and GigaDevice, collectively subscribed for approximately US$340 million (around HK$2.666 billion), representing 47% of the offering. Nazhen Technology is a leading full-stack provider of optical communications and optical connectivity solutions.