Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Himino said his views on the economy and prices have not materially changed since the July policy meeting.

The Hang Seng Index closed down 0.34% and the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 0.13% after low-range trading; turnover HK$233.5 billion. PCB, optical-communications and chip stocks led gains: Lanqi Technology (06809.HK) rose over 12%, Kingboard Laminates (01888.HK) and Changfei Optical Fibre & Cable (06869.HK) rose over 10%, Zhaoyi Innovation (03986.HK) gained about 7%, Huahong Hongli (01347.HK) rose about 4%, and SMIC (00981.HK) climbed about 2%. AI large-model names outperformed: Zhipu (02513.HK) +12%, MINIMAX-W (00100.HK) nearly +4%. Baidu (09888.HK) jumped over 5% after adding Hong Kong as a primary listing venue and saying it will complete a dual-primary listing on Sept. 1.

Russia's foreign ministry said it has declared a Romanian diplomat persona non grata.