National Rally 2027 presidential candidate Marine Le Pen said on the 14th that, given France's high deficits and growth pressures, she believes the country cannot continue providing aid to Ukraine. Earlier, President Emmanuel Macron spoke by phone with Ukrainian President Zelenskiy and reiterated France's full support for Ukraine.

Hong Kong open: HSI down 0.80%, Hang Seng Tech Index down 2.21%. Banks active; chip, AI and leading internet sectors underperformed. New listing Transsion Holdings (02636.HK) down 0.96%.

Hong Kong stocks traded lower into the midday close. The HSI fell 1.47% at noon and the Hang Seng TECH Index was down 2.94% after an intraday drop of more than 3%. Storage-related names led losses: Southern 2x Long SK Hynix (07709.HK) tumbled over 23% and Lanqi Technology (06809.HK) fell more than 11%. Optical-communications stocks slid — Yangtze Optical Fibre & Cable (06869.HK) dropped over 13% and Cambridge Technology (06166.HK) fell about 10%. PCB players weakened, with Dazu CNC down nearly 10% and Kingboard Laminates (01888.HK) off more than 8%. Power equipment, ports & shipping, liquid cooling, logistics, coal and airlines were also among the worst-performing sectors.