Global TradFi & Macroeconomics

Synchrony Financial, the credit card issuer for Amazon, Walmart, and Lowe's, announced on Monday a collaboration with OpenAI allowing the artificial intelligence company's models to power the card company's consumer portals. The partnership aims to help Synchrony remain relevant in a future where AI

According to Nikkei, Japan's long-term interest rates reached their highest levels in 30 years on August 18, amid rising U.S. Treasury yields. The surge has reignited concerns over potential yen carry trade unwinding, as investors may exit leveraged positions funded in low-yielding yen. Rising rates

According to trading data and RBC Capital Markets analysis, on Monday (Aug 17), Tesla stock fell 0.9% to $339.30 while SpaceX surged 4.5% to $146.23, underscoring a significant shift in investor focus. The two companies' stock movements have shown high correlation in recent weeks, moving in the

Gate News reports that, according to Gate’s official announcement on August 19, 2026, the Gate Futures stock zone will initially launch nine stock contracts—ACCELINK, PUYA, HUAGONGTECH, WANGSU, CIG, TONGGUAN, JUNZHENG, XIECHUANG, and YONGDING—at 14:00 (UTC+8) on August 19, 2026. All nine are USDT-settled perpetual contracts, offering 1x–20x leverage for both long and short positions. ACCELINK (Accelink Technologies) manufactures optical communication components and optical modules and has in-hou

KOSDAQ closed at 864.65 on the 14th, up 0.38% from the previous trading day, according to Korea Exchange on the 18th. During the first week of August (3rd to 7th), KOSDAQ surged 10.98%, recording the highest return among major global stock indices during that period. The rally was driven by

Jeong Won-taek, head of Mirae Asset Asset Management's equity operations division, stated in an interview with Herald Economy that KOSDAQ has confirmed its bottom and a period of stock differentiation is beginning. The TIGER KOSDAQ Active ETF, which launched on June 2, rose 20% from

Foreign investors returning to South Korea's stock market are concentrating on so-called S7 stocks last week, with Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, SK Square, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Samsung C&T, and Samsung Life Insurance all seeing net inflows. S7 shares accounted for 76.6% of total net

According to Jung Won-taek, head of Mirae Asset Daewoo's equity division, KOSDAQ has confirmed its bottom and entered a phase of stock differentiation, marking the end of liquidity concentration in Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. The TIGER KOSDAQ Active ETF, which launched on June 2, gained 20% th

According to the Korean Exchange, KOSDAQ surged 10.98% during the first week of August (August 3-7), marking the best weekly performance among major global indices. The index closed at 864.65 on August 14, up 0.38 from the previous trading day, and has gained 34.10% since hitting a recent low of 644

Nvidia partnered last week with Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs, and KKR to establish an AI chip financing platform, mobilizing over $500 billion to help enterprises fund AI infrastructure and GPU purchases. The partners will package computing power as investable assets for

According to Goldman Sachs, S&P 500 companies' second-quarter earnings per share grew 31% year-over-year as of August 18, with AI infrastructure-related stocks contributing nearly half the increase, Chief U.S. Equity Strategist Ben Snider said in a report. The analysis shows AI profit

According to financial investment circles, SK Hynix is pushing to list its U.S. NAND flash memory subsidiary Solidigm on Nasdaq by the end of August 2026. The move aims to raise capital for future competitiveness investments, though market observers remain divided on whether the spinoff represents p

According to Guru Club, today (August 18), China's CSI 500 stock index futures (IC) main contract fell below the 8,000-point level, declining 0.85%. Separately, the CSI 1000 stock index futures (IM) main contract slipped below 7,800 points, down 0.75% on the day.

According to Guru Club, Stripe announced on August 18 that it will expand multi-currency settlement to enterprises across 37 markets by the end of 2026. Businesses will be able to collect and settle revenues in up to 18 different currencies based on their operating locations. The company also

According to Yonhap Infomax, South Korea's reserve money surplus totaled 12.4 trillion won on Aug 18, with the prior day's (Aug 14) reserve money sufficiency surplus at 22.9 trillion won. The overnight call rate stood at 2.776%, with trading volume of 12.3 trillion won.

According to Jin10, on August 18, 2026 at 10:30 AM, gold bar prices at major Chinese banks and brands mostly rose compared to the previous day. Ayione Gold Shop and Laomiao Gold saw the largest gains, each rising 10 yuan per

According to Shanghai Metals, MMLC battery-grade lithium carbonate's mid-price rose to 153,750 yuan/ton in early trading today (August 18), up 1,000 yuan/ton from Monday 4:30 PM.

According to Bitget, the exchange has launched perpetual contracts for GDX, NET, and LYTE, three stock and ETF products. The contracts are settled in USDT and support up to 20x leverage with 24/7 trading. Bitget now offers perpetual contracts for 276 stock and ETF products in

According to Jin10, BHP CEO Brandon Craig responded on August 18 during the FY2026 earnings call to market speculation about potential investment in Canada's uranium projects. Craig confirmed that uranium is primarily a byproduct of BHP's Olympic Dam mine in South Australia, with the company

According to Bitget, U.S. stock index futures weakened overnight, with S&P 500 futures falling 0.2% and Nasdaq futures declining 0.4%.