(1) Stock Market Highlights

- U.S. Market

The Dow Jones closed up by 38 points or 0.09%, at 40,974 points; the S&P 500 fell slightly by 0.16%, at 5,520 points; the Nasdaq retreated by 0.3%, at 17,084 points; 

the Golden Dragon Index, reflecting the performance of Chinese concept stocks, dipped by 0.07%.

- Hong Kong Market

The Hang Seng Index closed down by 194 points, at 17,457 points. The total daily turnover increased to over 96.9 billion yuan. 

The Technology Index fell by 13 points, closing at 3,482 points.

- Mainland China Market

The Shanghai Composite Index closed at 2,784 points, down by 18 points or 0.67%, with a turnover of 234.712 billion yuan. 

The Shenzhen Component Index closed at 8,226 points, down by 41 points or 0.51%, with a turnover of 324.668 billion yuan. 

The CSI 300 Index was at 3,252 points, down by 21 points or 0.65%; the ChiNext Index was at 1,554 points, down by 1 point or 0.11%.

(2) Economic Highlights

- The U.S. Department of Labor's Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) showed that there were 7.673 million job vacancies in July, 

the fewest since January 2021, versus market expectations of 8.1 million. However, the market's focus remains on the U.S. non-farm payroll data for August, 

which will be released on Friday. Economists expect an increase of 165,000 non-farm jobs in August.

- The Financial Secretary, Mr. Paul Chan, continued his visit in Sydney, Australia, and met with the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Mr. Philip Lowe. 

They exchanged views on the current global and regional economic and financial market conditions, as well as related financial regulatory topics. 

Mr. Chan introduced Hong Kong's work in financial regulation and development and expressed his expectation to maintain communication with the 

Reserve Bank of Australia to promote more cross-border cooperation.

- Hang Seng Indexes Company announced that the Hang Seng China (Hong Kong-listed) 25 Index, Hang Seng China (Hong Kong-listed) Technology Index, 

Hang Seng China (Hong Kong-listed) AI Theme Index, Hang Seng China (Hong Kong-listed) Technology Index, and Hang Seng China (Hong Kong-listed) 

New Economy Index will introduce a fast inclusion rule for stocks in the Stock Connect Index, effective immediately.

- Data shows that business activity in Hong Kong has been in a contraction zone for four consecutive months, with a sluggish business environment leading 

to a decrease in new orders. The economic recovery in Hong Kong is not as expected, with a sluggish market and customers cutting back on spending, 

which has curbed demand for new orders. The Standard & Poor's Hong Kong Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell from 49.5 in July to 49.4 in August, 

remaining in the contraction zone below 50 for four consecutive months.

- A report from Bank of America stated that it has lowered its forecast for China's economic growth this year from 5% to 4.8%, noting that the economic 

growth momentum has lost steam in recent months.

(3) Corporate News

- Alibaba (09988), through its platforms Taobao and Tmall, plans to introduce WeChat Pay, owned by Tencent Holdings (00700).

- Meituan (03690) and Ant Group's Alipay have strengthened their cooperation. Meituan's core businesses, Meituan Waimai (Meituan Food Delivery) and Meituan Hotel, 

have been launched on Alipay's mini-programs, along with promotional offers.

- BYD (01211) clarified that there has been no decision to delay its plans to build a factory in Mexico. The head of BYD's Americas business stated in a declaration 

that Mexico is a very important market for BYD, and the cars produced by the related factory will be sold locally, not exported to the United States or elsewhere.