In 2025, the median lease for a 1-bedroom in Hong Kong is $2,421.
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Spot gold costs on Wednesday hit $4,000 for the primary time as protected‑haven demand continues to drive the yellow steel’s costs increased.
The newest rise “seemingly displays protected‑haven demand tied to the U.S. authorities shutdown and the resignation of Sebastien Lecornu as France’s prime minister,” Vivek Dhar, head of commodities at Commonwealth Financial institution of Australia, stated in a notice.
That comes after a summer season that noticed U.S. tariff-led uncertainty rock the worldwide economic system.
Asia-Pacific inventory markets, in the meantime, traded flat Wednesday, breaking ranks from Wall Road losses, after the World Financial institution raised the area’s progress forecast Tuesday.
Hong Kong’s Hold Seng index slid 1.01%.
CF PharmTech shares surged over 224% of their Hong Kong buying and selling debut. CF PharmTech is a specialty pharmaceutical firm, centered particularly on respiratory ailments.
CF PharmTech had raised round $78 million, with shares priced at HKD$14.75 apiece. PharmTech’s itemizing comes amid a resurgence in Hong Kong’s IPO market this 12 months that has collectively raised about $14.1 billion within the first half of this 12 months.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was little modified, whereas the the Topix added 0.66%. The Japanese yen weakened 0.38% to 152.48 towards the dollar after sliding to the 150-level Monday.
Australia’s ASX/S&P 200 fell 0.3%.
Mainland China and South Korean markets are closed for the vacations.
The Reserve Financial institution of New Zealand trimmed its benchmark rate of interest by 50 foundation factors to 2.5%.
“Financial exercise by the center of 2025 was weak. Partially, this displays home constraints on the availability of products and providers in some industries, and the influence of worldwide financial coverage uncertainty,” the financial institution stated in a media launch. The New Zealand greenback weakened 0.9% to 0.5746 per greenback.
The Financial institution of Thailand can be set to launch its coverage choices later within the day.
In a single day within the U.S., the three main averages closed decrease. The S&P 500 struggled Tuesday, slowed down by a drop in Oracle shares as traders fear concerning the profitability of the unreal intelligence commerce. Wall Road additionally regarded for extra developments out of Washington with the U.S. authorities shutdown in its second week.
The broad market index pulled again 0.38% to shut at 6,714.59, snapping a 7-day successful streak, whereas the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.67% to complete at 22,788.36. The Dow Jones Industrial Common fell 91.99 factors, or 0.2%, to finish at 46,602.98.
— CNBC’s Pia Singh, Sean Conlon and Fred Imbert contributed to this report.

