FITCH: Rising US inflation has revived concerns that inflation could persist above the target level.

Chinese shares opened flat and traded choppily; the Shanghai Composite dipped below 4,000 intraday and ChiNext fell over 2% early before all three major indexes rallied into the close. At settlement, Shanghai Composite +1.16%, Shenzhen Composite Index +0.19%, ChiNext +0.54%. Turnover on Shanghai and Shenzhen exceeded 3.5 trillion yuan. Innovative-drug names led gains, with multiple small-cap drug stocks hitting the 20% daily limit. Liquor, animal-husbandry, medical-service and precious-metal sectors outperformed; semiconductors were intermittently active and industrial-gas stocks strengthened in the afternoon with several limit-ups. Compute-hardware concepts plunged; glass/fiberglass, energy-equipment, shipping and copper-clad-laminate sectors were among the heaviest decliners. Market breadth was positive with over 2,400 stocks rising.

Baidu’s Kunlun AI chip unit is reportedly planning a Hong Kong IPO and counts Tencent as a customer. Earlier reports said ByteDance was considering adopting Kunlun’s AI chips; sources close to ByteDance say it currently has no intention to cooperate with Kunlun.