HONG KONG (AP) — Tens of thousands of people in densely populated, land-poor Hong Kong live in tiny dwellings made by dividing up apartments, most smaller than a parking space. It's an affordable option for students and low-income families but can also mean banging shins in cramped and in some cases substandard living spaces.
The city's government has proposed new rules that would set minimum standards for such housing units, but residents and advocates for the poor worry that it could drive up rents and make it even harder to hang on in the city. The city's eventual goal, mandated by Beijing, is to eliminate subdivided apartments over the next 25 years.
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Resident Tsang Mei Qin rests at her subdivided flat in Sham Shui Po district of Hong Kong, on Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
A shared toilet is seen outside a subdivided flat in the Sham Shui Po district of Hong Kong, on Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Multi-plug electric sockets are seen at a bed space in Sham Shui Po district of Hong Kong, on Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Independent electricity meters are seen on the wall outside a subdivided flat in Sham Shui Po district of Hong Kong, on Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Handwritten notes of the water bill are seen on the wall outside a subdivided flat in Sham Shui Po district of Hong Kong, on Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
A resident who gave his name as Cheung watches television at his subdivided flat in Sham Shui Po district of Hong Kong, on Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
A general view of the residential area in Sham Shui Po district of Hong Kong, on Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Officials are aiming to pass the rules into law within the year. After that, landlords will have a grace period to make their substandard flats meet the bar. The government has promised to assist affected residents in resettlement and adopt a gradual approach in its policy implementation to avoid causing panic.
Here are some of the numbers that illustrate the residents' living conditions and the proposed policy.
Hong Kong's population in mid-2024
How much land is used for housing in the densely-packed territory, according to the city's planning department
The number of dwellings created by dividing apartments
The number of people who live in them
The median size of the units that have been carved out. About one-fourth are less than eight square meters (86 square feet), the minimum size mandated under the proposed rules
The standard size of a parking space in Hong Kong
Or 5,000 Hong Kong dollars: the median rent for a unit in a subdivided apartment
Estimated number of units that would need major renovations under the proposed rules
The year by which China's central government wants Hong Kong to phase out subdivided units. It will mark 100 years of communist rule in China.
Resident Tsang Mei Qin rests at her subdivided flat in Sham Shui Po district of Hong Kong, on Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
A shared toilet is seen outside a subdivided flat in the Sham Shui Po district of Hong Kong, on Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Multi-plug electric sockets are seen at a bed space in Sham Shui Po district of Hong Kong, on Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Independent electricity meters are seen on the wall outside a subdivided flat in Sham Shui Po district of Hong Kong, on Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Handwritten notes of the water bill are seen on the wall outside a subdivided flat in Sham Shui Po district of Hong Kong, on Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
A resident who gave his name as Cheung watches television at his subdivided flat in Sham Shui Po district of Hong Kong, on Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
A general view of the residential area in Sham Shui Po district of Hong Kong, on Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market is rising toward records Tuesday after an easing of oil prices let Wall Street turn its focus back to the big profits that companies keep producing.
The S&P 500 rose 0.6% and was on track to top its all-time high set at the end of last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 248 points, or 0.5%, as of 10:15 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was heading toward its own record after climbing 0.7%.
Stocks got a boost after oil prices gave back some of their big jumps from Monday. The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 3.3% to $110.70 after briefly topping $115 on Monday, though it’s still well above its roughly $70 price from before the war with Iran.
A ceasefire in the war appears to be holding, even after the United Arab Emirates said Monday that Iran fired missiles and drones at it. The U.S. military is trying to force open a path in the Strait of Hormuz, which would allow oil tankers to resume shipments from the Persian Gulf and hopefully bring down the price of crude.
Iran’s powerful parliamentary speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, accused the United States of undermining regional security with the effort to end Iran’s stranglehold on the strait and warned that Tehran will respond.
Even with the war ongoing, the U.S. stock market has remained remarkably resilient on its record-setting run. That’s in large part due to the strong profits that U.S. companies have reported for the start of 2026 despite the rise in oil prices since the end of February.
“This has been a ‘why ask why’ market,'” according to Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “You just have to go with it.”
Even though many risks are still weighing on the market, “investors are looking at earnings” and how much companies are spending on AI data centers and other investments, he said.
DuPont’s stock rallied 8.7% Tuesday after the chemical giant led another cavalcade of companies reporting better-than-expected profits for the latest quarter.
DuPont said its water technologies business felt some impact because of the war with Iran due to logistics disruptions in the Middle East. But it nevertheless raised its forecasts for financial results over the full year due in part to its strong start to 2026.
Other winners included American Electric Power Co., which rose 1.8%, and Cummins, which added 1.7%, after they likewise made more money during the first three months of the year than analysts expected.
Pinterest soared 14% after the online bulletin board topped Wall Street’s first-quarter sales and profit targets as its number of active monthly users jumped 11% to 631 million.
AB InBev likewise topped analysts’ profit forecasts, and it credited growth for its Corona, Stella Artois and Michelob Ultra brands outside of their home markets. “Cheers to beer,” CEO Michel Doukeris said, as the company’s stock that trades in the United States jumped 9.2%.
They helped offset a drop for Palantir Technologies, which fell 4.3% even though it reported stronger results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its stock has struggled this year with worries about increased competition, like many software companies have. Its stock is also coming off a huge run where it more than doubled in each of the last three years.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed in Europe. The CAC 40 rose 0.6% in Paris, but the FTSE 100 fell 1.7% in London. Many Asian markets were closed for holidays, as Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.8%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.2% after the central bank raised its benchmark interest rate to 4.35%, saying conflict in the Middle East had sharply increased fuel and commodity prices that were already adding to inflation.
In the U.S. bond market, Treasury yields eased after oil prices gave back some of Monday’s gains and reports on the U.S. economy came in mixed.
One report said growth for U.S. services businesses unexpectedly decelerated last month, with some companies saying the war is slowing spending. A separate report said U.S. employers were advertising slightly more job openings at the end of March than economists expected, an encouraging signal for the job market.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.42% from 4.45% late Monday.
That’s still well above its 3.97% level from just before the war began. That rise has made mortgages and other kinds of loans for U.S. households and businesses more expensive.
AP Writers Chan Ho-him, Matt Ott and Rod McGuirk contributed.
Specialist Patrick King works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Options trader Anthony Spina, foreground, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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