Global TradFi & Macroeconomics

According to Reuters on August 23, South Korea's KOSPI index has fallen 30% from its June 19 peak, as euphoria driven by AI enthusiasm and leveraged retail trading swiftly reversed into pessimism. The downturn highlighted risks in a deregulation push designed to address the "Korea

According to New York Post, on August 23, U.S. Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib's financial disclosure revealed she holds up to $15,000 in Grayscale Ethereum ETF and up to $15,000 in Bitcoin ETF within her approximately $1.2 million retirement account. Tlaib previously voted against the CLARITY Act,

According to London Metal Exchange data, three-month copper futures prices reached $14,215.50 per ton on August 21, climbing 3.08% this month and approaching January's record high of $14,527.50 per ton. The surge stems from structural supply-demand imbalances driven by rapidly growing copper

According to Jin10, on August 22, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada will implement retaliatory tariffs equivalent to U.S. duties on $20 billion in Canadian goods, effective September 8. The move comes in response to the U.S. imposing 50% tariffs on the same value of Canadi

Korean securities firms' ETN assets grew approximately 5% while ETF assets surged nearly 30% during the period from Jan 30 to day 20, according to Korea Exchange data. ETN index value increased from 18.9

According to Korea Exchange data, as of August 20, exchange-traded notes (ETNs) issued by South Korean brokerages saw assets grow only 5% year-to-date, significantly lagging exchange-traded funds (ETFs) which surged roughly 30% in the same period. ETN holdings reached 19.89 trillion won compared to

The USD-KRW exchange rate closed at 1,386.20 won on the 22nd at 6 AM, marking a weekly decline of 30.60 won and reaching the 1,380 won level—the lowest in 11 months since September. The Seoul foreign exchange market will move this week (24-28) based on monetary policy directions from the Bank of

According to South Korea's exchange and Yonhapnews, seven of eight companies newly listed from July through August 21 saw share prices fall below their IPO prices as the market entered an adjustment phase in the third

According to Yonhapinfomax, the USD/KRW exchange rate fell to 1,386.20 on Aug 22, marking its lowest level since September 2025. Exporter selling and weak U.S. dollar flows drove the decline. Market focus this week turns to the Bank of Korea's monetary policy meeting on Aug 27, where 11 of 21

According to Yonhap Infomax, South Korea's monetary policy committee will make its August interest rate decision on August 27, with market expectations sharply divided. A survey of 21 domestic and foreign financial institutions found 11 respondents expect the benchmark rate to hold at 2.75%

Crypto asset manager Grayscale stated this week could mark a turning point for Bitcoin, following a roughly $10,000 weekly rally that lifted the cryptocurrency to $79,500 on Aug. 21. The assessment came in an Aug. 22 post on X that compared Bitcoin's current decline with four previous market

According to analyst Dan Ives in a CNBC interview, the AI memory market faces a severe supply shortage, with the supply-demand ratio reaching approximately 15:1. Ives stated that major corporations, including Apple, must now pay higher costs for memory chips as demand and prices rise

According to Goldman Sachs on Aug 23, AI trading entered a deleveraging phase similar to July's market selloff. The bank's high-beta momentum portfolio declined 12% for the week, while its AI hedge portfolio fell 10% over five days. Despite leverage levels in AI stocks retreating from extremes, mome

According to TechCrunch, Nvidia announced on August 21 a partnership with Cloverleaf Infrastructure, with the chipmaker investing hundreds of millions of dollars in the data center development company. Cloverleaf, founded in 2024 and having raised $300 million that year, acts as an intermediary

According to MarketWatch, U.S. long-term Treasury yields climbed to fresh highs on Thursday, with the 10-year yield rising to 4.69% and the 30-year yield breaking above 5%, despite the Treasury Department's announcement of expanded debt buyback operations earlier in the week. Brent crude oil

Korea Insurance Research Institute researchers Cho Young-hyun and Park Hee-woo released a report on the 23rd proposing that Korean insurers adopt funding agreement contracts to diversify funding sources beyond traditional product sales. The researchers stated this mechanism could enable insurers to

Nearly 40% of Korean companies cannot cover interest expenses with operating profits as corporate financial health deteriorates, according to a Korea Financial Research Institute report released on the 23rd. Senior researcher Koo Jung-han stated that the proportion of non-financial external audit co

Korean banks reported net profit of 13.8 trillion won in H1 2026, down 6.4% from 14.7 trillion won in the same period last year, according to provisional data released by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The decline occurred despite an 8.3% increase in interest income to 32.2 trillion won, a

According to the Financial Supervisory Service on August 23, South Korean domestic banks' net profit in the first half of 2026 fell to 13.8 trillion won, down 6.4% from 14.7 trillion won in the same period last year, a decline of approximately 900 billion won. While interest income expanded to 32.2