Iraqi port official says rescue vessels extinguished a fire aboard oil tanker New Andros; no casualties reported.

Overnight Middle East tensions pushed oil higher and U.S. indices fell, while the China Golden Dragon Index plunged. Hong Kong stocks have fallen 333 points over two days; the Hang Seng opened up about 10 points at 25,328 but slid as much as 155 points to 25,161 intraday and briefly breached the 100-day moving average before stabilizing after domestic data. At midday the Hang Seng was roughly flat, Hang Seng Tech down 0.58%, with turnover HKD 107.31 billion. Sector action: optical communications, PCB and coal outperformed; semiconductor equipment, computer hardware, defense and heavy machinery staged sharp rebounds; power equipment, ports & shipping and medical devices ticked higher. Consumer weakness: apparel, online healthcare and restaurants plunged; autos extended losses; gaming software, sporting goods, publishing and retail weakened. Notable stock moves: Youdi Robotics (03231.HK) jumped nearly 160% on debut, Xizhi Technology-P (01879.HK) +20%+, Weichai Power (02338.HK) +6.5%, Lenovo Group (00992.HK) +5.5%; Haidilao (06862.HK) -9.5%, Li Ning (02331.HK) and JD Health (06618.HK) each down >5%.

Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE) gold T+D fell 1.24% in early trade on Wednesday, Sept 9, to 942.29 yuan/gram; SGE silver T+D fell 0.95% to 16,040 yuan/kg.