Hong Kong stocks fell 173 points or 0.7% to 25,601 on Thursday morning, down for the second day after Wall Street weakened overnight. Sentiment soured as the Trump administration reportedly is considering broad restrictions on exports to China of goods made with or powered by U.S. software, following Beijing’s recent curbs on rare earth exports. Investors also turned cautious ahead of Hong Kong’s September inflation data due later today. At the same time, a communique from China’s fourth plenum is expected. Further caution prevailed ahead of key U.S. inflation data and next week’s Fed policy meeting. Still, downside pressure was capped by comments from U.S. President Trump, who said he expects to reach several agreements with China’s Xi Jinping during their meeting in South Korea next week. Tech and consumer shares led declines, with notable losses from Pop Mart Intl. (-5.2%), Mixue Group (-3.0%), and Kuaishou Tech (-1.1%). Gold stocks also slipped as bullion prices eased further.