The IRGC told Iranian media on the 4th that Israel must immediately halt attacks on the Lebanese people, withdraw from occupied Lebanese territory and recognize Lebanon's territorial integrity.

The HSI opened lower and extended losses, down 1.40% at midday; the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 1.43%. Heavyweight tech names Alibaba (09988.HK), Meituan (03690.HK) and Baidu (09888.HK) each slid more than 2%. Auto shares underperformed, with NIO-SW (09866.HK), Li Auto (02015.HK) and SERES (09927.HK) off over 3%. Semiconductor and chip-related stocks bucked the market: GigaDevice (03986.HK) rose nearly 10%, 02577.HK gained more than 5% and Hua Hong Semiconductor (01347.HK) climbed over 4%.

The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reports Meta Platforms (META.O) has delayed the API launch for its Muse Spark AI model, citing bugs and infrastructure issues.