HSI rises 44 points by midday

Hong Kong stocks remained steady with fluctuations, as the Hang Seng Index closed the morning session at 19,264 points, up 44 points or 0.23 percent, with a turnover exceeding HK$78.2 billion.

The Tech Index rose 0.21 percent to 4,361 points. Tech stocks showed mixed performance, with Meituan (3690), Tencent (0700), and JD.com (9618) gaining nearly 1 percent or more, while Alibaba (9988) remained unchanged, and Xiaomi (1810) dropped nearly 1 percent.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International (0981) hit a four-and-a-half-year high, rising 4.8 percent by midday, making it the best-performing blue-chip stock.

Zijin Mining (2899) was added to the US sanctions list, plunging 5.1 percent by midday, making it the worst-performing blue-chip stock.

(Melody Chen)