Hong Kong internet stocks slid: Alibaba (09988.HK) and Kuaishou (01024.HK) dropped over 3pct, Tencent Holdings (00700.HK) and Meituan (03690.HK) fell more than 2pct; Baidu (09888.HK), JD.com (09618.HK) and NetEase (09999.HK) also declined.

Hong Kong equities opened lower and slid through the morning; Hang Seng Index was down 1.27% and the Hang Seng Tech Index down 1.69% at the midday break after the tech gauge fell over 2% intraday. Chip names recovered: Lanqi Technology (06809.HK) rose about 5%, SMIC (00981.HK) gained ~1%. BOC Hong Kong (02388.HK) advanced over 4%, marking a fresh intraday record high. PCB-related stocks led losses: Kingboard Laminates (01888.HK) -9%, Kingboard Holdings (00148.HK) -7%, Shenghong Technology (02476.HK) -5%. Gold miners tumbled: Lingbao Gold (03330.HK) and Zijin Gold International (02259.HK) both down more than 5%. Robotics, select internet names, power equipment, smart-driving suppliers, Chinese brokers and mainland property shares were weaker. Stock movers: Zhipu (02513.HK) +7%, UBTECH Robotics (09880.HK) -5%.

UK government spokesman, responding to warnings from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said UK armed forces are prepared to protect the country from any form of attack, remain ready to defend round-the-clock and are coordinating closely with NATO allies.