Fed September Meeting Minutes: Inflation Still Elevated. On October 7 local time, the Federal Reserve released the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting held on September 15-16. The minutes showed that to support the Committee's "dual mandate" goals, all members unanimously agreed to raise the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to between 3.75% and 4%. "Most participants judged that further increases in the target range for the federal funds rate could be appropriate before the end of this year." This means that at the September meeting, most officials still expected at least one more rate hike within the year. At the same time, the inflation level remains high relative to the Committee's 2% target. Participants noted that inflation remains elevated and that insufficient progress has been made in reducing inflation in recent months. They pointed out that ongoing geopolitical tensions have pushed up crude oil and refined product prices, and the surge in artificial intelligence-related investment has also intensified inflationary pressures. However, the minutes did not show when policymakers specifically expect to raise rates, only indicating that persistently high prices and a stable labor market could prompt the Fed to make a second rate hike this year.

Market Outlook. Overnight, U.S. stocks closed lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 341.41 points from the previous trading day to 51,179.87, a decline of 0.66%; the S&P 500 fell 17.16 points to 7,801.77, a decline of 0.22%; the Nasdaq Composite fell 61.2 points to 27,538.69, a decline of 0.22%. Large technology stocks were mixed, with Amazon up 1.42% and Apple up 0.91%, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 1.15% to 13,066.15. TSMC fell 2.09%, Qualcomm fell 2.16%, and memory concept stocks were mixed, with Micron Technology up 4.06% and SK Hynix down 2.36%. Optical communication stocks fell broadly, with Coherent down 1.12%, Lumentum down 1.97%, and Corning down 3.39%. Pharmaceutical concept stocks rose broadly, with Moderna up 4.81% and Eli Lilly up 2.70%. Popular Chinese concept stocks were mixed, with the Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index up 0.12%. The Hang Seng Index ADR declined, calculated proportionally to close at 24,092.84 points, down 37.66 points or 0.16% from the Hong Kong close. The front-month continuous contract for WTI crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $0.50 to settle at $88.94 per barrel, a decline of 0.56%. The front-month continuous contract for COMEX gold futures fell $50.40, or 1.20%, to $4,136.7 per ounce.

Key Developments to Watch. The International Monetary Fund expects high oil prices to persist into next year. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in Singapore on the 7th that even if the current conflict in the Gulf region ends soon, high energy prices may persist for some time. Speaking at a warm-up event for the IMF and World Bank Group 2026 Autumn Meetings that day, Georgieva said that based on the current Brent crude oil futures price trend, high oil prices are expected to persist until 2027. Paul Chan: Hong Kong's economy in the first half posted its strongest performance in nearly five years. According to an announcement, Hong Kong's Legislative Council continued its combined debate on Hong Kong's first five-year plan and the new Policy Address. Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan said that since the beginning of this year, the international political and economic landscape has been complex and changeable, but Hong Kong's economy grew 5.1% year-on-year in the first half of this year, the strongest half-year performance in nearly five years; the current good momentum of Hong Kong's economy has not come easily, and it is necessary to anchor the direction for sustained high-quality development in the next stage, and he is confident that Hong Kong will achieve the revised forecast of full-year real economic growth of 3.5% to 4.5% this year. Christopher Hui: Work to link Hong Kong's gold settlement with the instant payment settlement system has entered its final stage. Hong Kong Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Christopher Hui attended the London Bullion Market Association's Global Precious Metals Conference 2026 in Sorrento, Italy. Hui pointed out that Hong Kong has moved beyond the planning stage and fully entered the implementation stage. The trial operation of Hong Kong's Central Gold Clearing and Settlement System has received an ideal response. In addition to the 11 banks serving as temporary direct participants in the settlement system, other banks have also expressed interest in joining the settlement system, which is scheduled to officially begin operation in the first quarter of next year. Midland Realty: In September, applications for pre-sale private residential projects in Hong Kong involved 3,778 units, up 235.8% month-on-month, a new high in more than four years. According to data from the Lands Department compiled by Midland Realty Research Center, in September there were 7 new applications for pre-sale private residential projects, involving 3,778 units, a sharp increase of about 235.8% from 1,125 units in August, and a new high in 52 months (more than 4 years) since May 2022. Hang Seng Indexes Company announces consultation conclusions on the compilation methodology of the Hang Seng Tech Index, making adjustments based on the previously proposed revision plan and adopting a dual-group stock selection mechanism, using market capitalization ranking and revenue growth ranking as selection criteria respectively. Non-existing constituent stocks must also meet the requirement of a minimum average daily turnover of HK$100 million over the past three months; constituent stocks selected by revenue growth ranking must have recorded annual revenue of at least HK$500 million in each of the most recent two consecutive financial years. Adopting the previously proposed revision plan, the number of constituent stocks will be increased from 30 to 50, of which the top 40 will be selected by market capitalization ranking, and the remaining 10 will be selected by revenue growth ranking over the past twelve months. The above revisions will be implemented in the index review as of September 30, 2026, and will take effect in the December 2026 index adjustment. Samsung Electronics' operating profit climbed to 107.4 trillion won, up more than 7 times year-on-year. In the three months ended September, Samsung's operating profit reached about 107.4 trillion won, more than 8 times that of the same period last year; analysts had previously expected operating profit of 108.7 trillion won on average and revenue of 195 trillion won, with revenue falling short of expectations. This record performance and high market expectations fully reflect how the AI boom has significantly changed the industry landscape, benefiting Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology. ANTA Sports (02020): Completed the acquisition of a 29.06% stake in PUMA SE. On October 7, ANTA Group officially announced that it had completed the acquisition of a 29.06% stake in PUMA SE, the company behind the globally iconic sports brand Puma, from Artémis SAS, an investment company under the Pinault family, for a cash consideration of 1.5055 billion euros, and had obtained approval from all relevant regulatory authorities and satisfied customary closing conditions. ANTA Group has officially become the largest shareholder of Puma. Sa Sa International (00178): Overall turnover in the second quarter was HK$1.4138 billion, up 37.2% year-on-year. Sa Sa International announced that for the second quarter from July 1 to September 30, 2026, the group's beauty trend effect and marketing strategy continued to be effective, driving the group's overall turnover to HK$1.4138 billion, up 37.2% year-on-year. The group's total offline sales reached HK$1.2196 billion, up 47.6% from the same period last year. Luodi Robot (01236) plans to acquire all equity of SABO-Maschinenfabrik GmbH for no more than 6 million euros. The target company is a long-established and renowned German manufacturer of high-end garden machinery and distributes its products through an extensive network of more than 1,400 professional retailers across Europe. After completion of the acquisition, the Singapore subsidiary will directly hold 100% equity of the target company, and the target company will become a wholly owned subsidiary of the group, and its financial results, assets, and liabilities will be consolidated into the group's financial statements.

Stock Spotlight. Dajin Heavy Industry (01081): It is said the company won an order from a Greek shipowner for five 211,000-ton Newcastlemax bulk carriers. Several shipbuilding industry sources said that Greek shipowner Evalend Shipping, owned by Kriton Lendoudis, has commissioned Dajin Heavy Industry to build a series of 211,000 deadweight ton Newcastlemax bulk carriers. Reports said that the shipowner negotiated with Dajin Heavy Industry in July for the construction of as many as four Newcastlemax bulk carriers, and the number of vessels involved in this order has now increased to five. It is understood that the per-vessel cost of these scrubber-fitted Newcastlemax bulk carriers is about $77.5 million. Huaxi Securities previously pointed out that the shipbuilding segment has officially entered the mainstream ship construction market. Since its first order signing in August 2025, the company has cumulatively signed new shipbuilding orders for a total of 24 vessels, with a total contract value of about RMB 12 billion, and the order delivery window is concentrated in 2027-2030. It continues to be optimistic about the incremental space of the company's new growth curve driven by both its own fleet transportation and shipbuilding.