Global TradFi & Macroeconomics

According to CNBC, Korean retail investors moved approximately $4.5 billion to U.S. stocks in July as they sought to avoid a correction in the domestic market. Of that total, $840 million was invested in SK Hynix ADRs (American Depositary Receipts), making it the second-most purchased U.S.

According to Bitget, the Seychelles-based crypto exchange launched a Fixed Coupon Note (FCN) plan for tokenized US stocks on August 18. The product allows users to subscribe with USDT, earn a predefined USDT coupon during the holding period, and gain exposure to selected US stock-linked rTokens. The

According to Reuters, on Aug. 14, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted conditional preliminary approval to World Liberty Trust Company, National Association—the Trump family-linked crypto firm's path to operating a federally regulated national trust bank. The OCC's condit

According to an official announcement, Tongge AI Social (00628) expects attributable profit for the six months ended June 30, 2026, to reach approximately RMB 50 million to RMB 56 million, compared with RMB 31.9 million in the corresponding period of 2025. The increase is primarily driven by

According to Zhitong Finance, Hong Kong and China Gas (00003) announced its interim results for the first half of 2026 on August 18, with revenue reaching HK$29.526 billion, up 7.31% year-over-year. Shareholders' profit increased 23% to HK$3.64 billion, with basic earnings per share of 19.5 HK

According to China Unicom's mid-year earnings report released today (August 18, 2026), net profit attributable to shareholders reached RMB 9.5 billion in H1, down 34.6% year-over-year, while operating revenue reached RMB 201.4 billion,

Zhida Technology (02650) disclosed its first post-listing interim results on August 17, with the stock gaining approximately 4% intraday and outperforming the Hong Kong stock market benchmark. According to the interim report, overseas revenue accounted for 29.7% of total revenue, while overseas

Rong Feng Group Asia (08526) issued a profit warning on August 18, stating the company expects a net loss of approximately HKD 10 million for the six months ending June 30, 2026, compared to a net loss of HKD 2.7 million in the same period of 2025. The board attributed the larger loss primarily to p

According to CNBC, Korean retail investors have been shifting investment funds to U.S. stocks to avoid domestic market adjustments on August 17. The investors are concentrating positions in semiconductors and leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs), raising potential price distortion risks in these s

According to Iranian state media, Iran's chief negotiator Kalibaff stated that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States meets the conditions of a preliminary agreement. The official remarks underscore Tehran's position on maintaining the chokepoint closure as leverage in

According to a Reuters survey, all 13 economists polled predict the Hungarian National Bank will cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 5.5% on August 25. Analysts' median forecast indicates the rate will decline further to 5.0% by end-2026, unchanged from July's

Stonebridge Capital and LS Securities launched a tender offer for an additional 30% stake in Refine, a real estate title research company, through their special purpose vehicle Realty Fine. The tender offer targets 5.199 million shares at 17,600 won per share,

According to Morgan Stanley research on August 16, Silver Lake is in talks to acquire Workday, which has a market value of approximately $50 billion. If the acquisition proceeds at a 30-40% premium, the valuation would reach 5x 2027 price-to-sales and 16x 2027 free cash flow, both below historical a

Samyang Foods purchased stocks in Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, and Kia on March 6, investing approximately 1.8 billion won across the three companies as part of its surplus cash management strategy. The investments were driven by substantial cash accumulation from global sales of its Buldak s

According to South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service disclosure system, Samyang Foods invested in Samsung Electronics, Hyundai Motor, Kia, and Korea Finance Holdings on March 6, with simple investment as the stated purpose. The company spent approximately 599.95 million Won to acquire 3,188 Sams

According to TradingBeats, on August 18, a major whale positioned approximately $8.2 million in short orders on Brent crude oil near the $91 level. BRENTOIL rose 3.4% in 24 hours to $89.19, with the whale having already opened a short position of 27,849.71 contracts at an average price of $88.30 ear

According to Nikkei, SoftBank Group on August 18 announced plans to issue approximately 1 trillion yen ($6.26 billion) in retail bonds to Japanese retail investors, marking the largest retail bond issuance ever by a Japanese company. The bonds carry a 7-year maturity, with specific terms including i

South Korea's KOSPI index ended its five-day winning streak on August 18 as foreign investor net buying momentum weakened, amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and surging long-term U.S. Treasury yields that intensified risk-asset selloff sentiment. Market analysts are closely

Hong Kong stock market closed on August 18 with the Hang Seng Index up 0.07%, while the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 0.9%. AI-related stocks tumbled sharply, with Zhipu dropping over 13% and MINIMAX-W down over 4%. Chip and PCB concept stocks also declined broadly, including Kingboard Laminates down o

FX and CFD brokers are expanding AI and automation across onboarding, payments, compliance, risk management, and support operations, according to industry executives from Exness, Capital.com, Muinmos, Gold-i, and GCEX. An ESMA survey across EU securities markets found that 70% of firms expected to r