HK Stock Market Move | Gold stocks fall across the board as Fed tightening expectations combine with fund deleveraging; spot gold hits a near one-year low.

Gold stocks fell across the board. As of press time, LINGBAO GOLD (03330) fell 6.67% to HK$14.28; EVEREST GOLD (01815) fell 6.45% to HK$1.16; Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining (06693) fell 4.37% to HK$27.6; ZIJIN GOLD INTL (02259) fell 2.93% to HK$116. On the news front, driven by Fed tightening expectations and heightened volatility in US equities, international gold prices fell sharply last Friday, with spot gold briefly breaking below $3,900/oz to hit a near one-year low. The Fed held rates steady in October but explicitly stated that "inflation remains elevated," and market pricing for a December rate hike rose to 72%; at the same time, a sharp selloff in US tech stocks triggered forced liquidations and margin calls, forcing some investors to sell gold to cover losses on other positions. Western pointed out that this round of gold's decline has decoupled from the rate narrative, with the core being liquidity and leveraged positions. Although 10-year US Treasury yields moved lower and US equities weakened in tandem, creating both rate and safe-haven conditions favorable for gold at the same time, spot gold still closed lower. On the one hand, gold may be pricing in rising energy prices and continued real interest rate tightening ahead. On the other hand, because the gold futures market has large capacity and relatively controllable market-impact costs, during deleveraging cycles it temporarily shifts from a "safe-haven hedge asset" to a liquidity withdrawal target for portfolios.