According to Smart Finance, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.93 percent to 25,157 points at midday on July 16, with the Hang Seng Tech Index gaining 3.08 percent. Midday trading volume reached 178.1 billion Hong Kong dollars.
Automotive stocks extended recent gains following the implementation of new industry cost calculation rules aimed at reducing disorderly price competition. XPeng Motors-W (09868) surged 7.7 percent, IM Motors (07489) rose 4 percent, and Leapmotor (09863) gained 4.7 percent. Xiaomi Group-W (01810) jumped over 6 percent after its MiMo edge-side model passed regulatory approval and the company released its Embodied Generative Large Model U0. In negative news, Luokung Technology (06809) plunged over 17 percent after being under investigation by South Korean authorities for suspected price manipulation. South Korea's exchange activated a temporary trading halt mechanism for the KOSPI index.