Hang Seng Tech Index fell in early trade, losses widened to 1%; HSI down 0.31%.

RWE said surging data-center electricity demand is increasing Europe's need for grid expansion and reliable generation, and that those costs should not be socialised across all consumers. Europe must accelerate grid buildout to support decarbonisation and rising power demand, but the rapid growth of high-demand data centers is adding infrastructure financing pressure without a clear mechanism to avoid higher bills for households and businesses. RWE CEO Markus Krebber said: "If demand increases, you need to build more grid capacity and more reliable generation. But the parties creating the additional demand are not currently bearing those costs."

The Wall Street Journal reports people familiar with the matter say Oracle is in talks with Apollo, Goldman Sachs and other institutions to arrange financing for a large chip purchase, aiming to complete the deal as soon as this year. The financing is intended to bridge the cash gap between upfront hardware payments and the start of revenue from Oracle's cloud business.