Hong Kong-listed sports stocks continued their upward trend, with Li Ning (02331.HK) rising over 8%, and Xtep International (01368.HK) and Topsports (06110.HK) rising over 2%.

Hit hard by the overnight plunge in US stocks, South Korean individual investors heavily invested in US stocks (known as "Seochak Ants") suffered a massive single-day loss. It is estimated that their paper losses reached at least 13 trillion won. According to data released on November 6th by SEIBRO, the securities information portal of the Korea Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation (KSD), as of November 4th, the total market value of US stocks held by "Seochak Ants" was US$179.459 billion (approximately 243.53 trillion won). However, with the sharp decline in all three major US stock indices on November 5th (the S&P 500 plummeted 4.36%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3.44%), especially the Nasdaq Composite Index, which is dominated by technology stocks, plummeted 5.52%. If this decline is roughly applied to their total holdings, it is equivalent to a single-day loss of US$9.906 billion (approximately 13.44 trillion won). In reality, the losses of South Korean retail investors are far greater than this, as the decline in their heavily invested stocks far exceeded the overall market decline. It is estimated that the four core holdings of "Western-style Ant Group" collectively evaporated nearly 8.7 trillion won in paper wealth in a single day. Among them, Tesla, its "favorite," plummeted 10.77%, losing approximately 3.2 trillion won in a single day; Nvidia fell 9.26%, wiping out about 2 trillion won; the SOXL ETF (3x leveraged semiconductor ETF) plunged 38.71%, losing over 2.7 trillion won; and Micron fell 17.46%, shrinking by over 800 billion won. Hit hard by this plunge, the market speculates that the total valuation of "Western-style Ant Group's" US stock holdings has fallen below the $170 billion mark.

A research report from Commerzbank points out that changes in the state-level political landscape following the US midterm elections may increase uncertainty regarding AI data center construction, electricity costs, and project approvals. The report states that the newly elected Democratic governors of Texas, Georgia, and Ohio have imposed varying degrees of restrictions on data center development, creating new policy risks for local AI infrastructure investment. Commerzbank believes that as AI data centers expand in scale, power supply, construction permits, and local regulations are becoming crucial factors influencing project implementation. If these restrictions tighten, data center projects may face construction delays or site adjustments, further impacting order delivery schedules for Asian semiconductor, memory chip, and electronic component suppliers. The bank also notes that the underlying demand for AI infrastructure remains strong, and changes in state-level regulations are more likely to affect the timing and location of project construction. Future attention should be paid to specific restrictions in each state, the progress of data center approvals, and whether large cloud computing companies adjust their infrastructure investment plans.

Hong Kong-listed AI application stocks opened lower, with Zhipu (02513.HK) down 8.82% and MINIMAX-W (00100.HK) down 7.4%, followed by Pony.ai-W (02026.HK) and Paradigm Intelligence (06682.HK).

The Hang Seng Index (HSI) opened down 392.36 points, or 1.58%, at 24404.62 on Friday, November 6th; the Hang Seng Tech Index opened down 129.07 points, or 3.11%, at 4025.22; the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index opened down 120.38 points, or 1.44%, at 8248.7; and the Hang Seng Red Chip Index opened down 33.55 points, or 0.83%, at 4002.49.

Concerns about AI regulation in the US have spread, causing a sharp drop in US stocks, which had previously hit record highs during the AI ​​investment boom. UBS analysts stated that due to construction halts and other factors, approximately 30% of the new data center capacity expected to be added in the US by 2028 may be short. Delays in data center construction will shrink demand for AI semiconductors, servers, power equipment, cooling systems, and even cloud services. Questions have resurfaced about whether massive AI investments can translate into real returns. Large technology companies are continuously increasing external financing, such as issuing bonds, for data center and semiconductor investments. Coupled with high interest rate pressures, market concerns about the return on investment have intensified. Overnight, the sell-off in US stocks was concentrated in AI semiconductor stocks, with the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunging over 12%, marking its largest single-day drop since the early stages of the 2020 pandemic. During the plunge, hedge funds heavily sold off their holdings to reduce risk exposure. Analysts pointed out that investors who were initially buying on dips also began to prioritize cash, further amplifying the selling pressure. "The market is shifting from 'AI promises' to 'AI pricing,'" said Ted Parkhill, CEO of Incline Investment Management. "There's no doubt that AI will change the world in the long run, but that doesn't mean all AI-related stocks are reasonably priced at present." He anticipates that "significant volatility will continue."