International Morning Express丨First Firefight After the US-Iran Agreement, Iran Claims to Repel a US Military Attack

Middle East Situation | First Clash Between US and Iran After Agreement Signed, Iran Claims to Have Repelled US Attack

Trump accuses Iran of violating the ceasefire agreement by launching attack drones at ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, including striking a cargo ship off the coast of Oman. The US Central Command later stated that US forces conducted multiple strikes in the Strait of Hormuz area in response to the attack on commercial vessels. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said their naval and air forces successfully repelled a US attack on Sirik Island, forcing the invading forces to retreat. This is the first clash between the US and Iran in the strait since the two sides signed a temporary ceasefire agreement.

US Lifts Ban, Allows Anthropic to Open Mythos Model to Some Enterprises

US Commerce Secretary Lutnick sent a letter to Anthropic, lifting the ban on Anthropic's AI model Claude Mythos 5, allowing its release to over 100 organizations, including large corporations and government agencies. Citing national security concerns, the White House had previously ordered Anthropic to revoke all access rights for foreign nationals, forcing the company to completely remove the model.

In Response to US Government Restrictions, OpenAI Releases Next-Gen Model GPT-5.6 on a Limited Basis

OpenAI stated that, at the request of the US government, it has limited the release of its next-generation AI model GPT-5.6 to a small number of trusted partners.

Trump Threatens 100% Tariff on Countries Imposing Digital Services Taxes

Trump has threatened to impose a 100% tariff on all goods from any country that levies a digital services tax on American companies.

US Stock Market Trend | Nasdaq Falls 0.24% at Close, Extending Losing Streak to 5 Days

Following reports that OpenAI plans to postpone its IPO until 2027, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged 5.3% at Friday's close; the Nasdaq briefly fell 1.36% but closed down 0.24%. The Nasdaq 100 Index, dominated by heavyweight tech stocks, dropped 1.1%; the S&P 500 edged down 0.05%, and the Dow Jones briefly slid 305 points before closing down 44 points, or 0.09%. SpaceX fell as much as 2.9% but recovered to close up 0.2%. Micron dropped 6.7%, Intel and Broadcom both fell over 3%, Caterpillar slid 5.6%, and Goldman Sachs declined 4.3%. Microsoft rose 5.7%, Apple gained 3.1%.

Overseas Focus Briefs

￭ Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari stated that he has changed his view and now expects the Fed to raise interest rates once this year, while rates will remain unchanged next year. Kashkari had previously predicted in March that the Fed would cut rates once before the end of this year.
￭ Former US National Security Advisor John Bolton pleaded guilty in court to mishandling classified information, facing up to five years in prison, and has agreed to pay a $2.25 million fine.
￭ According to CNBC, prediction market platform Polymarket has achieved an annualized revenue of over $1 billion six weeks after launching on a US-compliant exchange.
￭ The US goods trade deficit widened by 27.4% in May to $105.8 billion, exceeding expectations. The final reading of the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index for June came in at 49.5, higher than the preliminary reading.
￭ The US 10-year Treasury yield briefly fell 2.7 basis points to 4.389%, while the 2-year yield dropped 4.7 basis points to 4.074%.
￭ The US Dollar Index briefly fell 0.38% to 101.045; the euro rose 0.59%; the yen gained 0.16%.
￭ Bitcoin briefly fell 1.87% to $58,254 before stabilizing.
￭ Spot gold briefly rose 1.72% to a high of $4,096.06 per ounce, closing at $4,090.26, still up 1.58%.
￭ New York crude oil tumbled 3.74% to close at $69.23 per barrel, while Brent crude fell 4.34% to close at $71.99.
￭ Iran reportedly established a military communication hotline with the US over the Strait of Hormuz to prevent accidental escalation. However, a spokesperson for Iran's Revolutionary Guards dismissed the claim, stating the strait is Iran's territorial waters and has no connection to the US.
￭ US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Israel and Lebanon reached a framework agreement after talks in Washington, aiming to achieve lasting peace and security.
￭ The pan-European Stoxx 600 fell 0.68% at close. UK, French, and German stocks retreated 0.21%, 0.55%, and 1.29%, respectively.
￭ Following two earthquakes above magnitude 7 in Venezuela on Wednesday, acting President Delcy Rodríguez said on Friday that the death toll had risen to 589, with 2,980 others injured.
￭ The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Kim Keon-hee, the wife of former South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, to seven years in prison in the first-instance trial for allegedly "selling government posts."
￭ A video circulating online shows a small plane crashing into the CITIC Tower in Beijing on Friday before falling. Casualties are unknown at this time.

Local Focus Briefs

￭ The ADR Hong Kong stock index closed at 22,750, 78 points higher than the Hong Kong close. Alibaba (09988) rose 3.8%, Meituan (03690), Tencent (00700), and Xiaomi (01810) rose over 1%, and AIA (01299) gained 1%.
￭ Hang Seng Index night futures closed at 22,916, a premium of 244 points.
￭ The government announced that 77.8% of owners in Block H (Wang Chi House) of Wang Foo Court confirmed their intention to sell property rights. The long-term housing arrangement plan currently applicable to Blocks A to G of Wang Foo Court will be formally extended to Wang Chi House.
￭ CLP and HK Electric announced separately that from August to October this year, they will provide "special fuel cost rebates" and "special electricity subsidies" to eligible residential customers, with approximately 50% of residential customers qualifying.
￭ The Legislative Council Finance Committee approved the civil service pay adjustment proposal for the 2026/27 fiscal year, which includes a uniform 2% pay raise for all civil servants, effective retroactively from April 1 this year.
￭ The government announced on Friday the new appointments to the board of the Ocean Park Corporation, including the reappointment of Ivan Poon as chairman and Alan Wong as vice chairman, for a two-year term from July 1 this year to June 30, 2028.
￭ The government announced the start of amendments to the Medical Registration Ordinance to reform the Medical Council. Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau stated that the bill will have its first reading in the Legislative Council on July 8.
￭ "Hong Kong Happy Shopping Festival" will be held from July 1 to August 31, with over 6,000 stores offering tens of billions of dollars in "good gifts."
￭ The court has issued a three-year protection order for Danny, the two-month-old infant son of the "unusual parents" involved in the "Save Lily" case. The Social Welfare Department will arrange for the baby boy to remain at the current residential child care center, continuing to receive professional care.
￭ The ICAC and police dismantled a criminal syndicate controlled by members of the local football community, arresting a total of 19 people. They are suspected of operating illegal offshore gambling, involving events including the World Cup, and profiting from bribing players to fix local football matches.
￭ According to MPF Ratings, the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) recorded an estimated investment loss of approximately 1.93% in June as of June 23, marking the second month of negative returns this year. However, the first-half return is estimated at 5.16%, equivalent to an average profit of HK$16,796 per member.
￭ Hong Kong's secondary housing price index rose for the fourth consecutive week. The Centa-City Leading Index (CCL) increased by 0.57% week-on-week, reaching a new high since early September 2023.
￭ Emperor International (00163) reported a full-year net loss of HK$2.46B, significantly narrowing from the loss of HK$4.84 billion in the previous fiscal year. The group stated that as of the fiscal year-end, it had complied with all restructuring covenants, including repayment requirements, and is actively promoting property sales to strengthen liquidity and operating cash flow.
￭ Fosun Pharma (02196) plans to spin off Fosun Antigen and list it on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
￭ Kotuo Technology (02272) closed its first trading day at HK$120.2, up 204% from its IPO price.
￭ Zhongke Newsound (01956) closed its first trading day at HK$111.7, up 84.02% from its IPO price.
￭ Xinqi Micro Equipment (09630) closed its first trading day at HK$515, up 104% from its IPO price.
￭ Shengbang Shares (03661) closed its first trading day at HK$125.3, up 47.07% from its IPO price.
￭ Lingyi Intelligent Manufacturing (01688) closed its first trading day at HK$9.71, down 4.62% from its IPO price.
￭ Gold mining company PT Merdeka Gold Resources (06228), listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, closed its first trading day at HK$24.86, down 6.54% from its IPO price.
￭ Baige Online (02672) closed at HK$58.8 in grey market trading, up 277% from its IPO price.
￭ Libang Pharmaceutical (09637) closed at HK$42.18 in grey market trading, up 86.64% from its IPO price.
￭ Haiguang Core Chip (01191) closed at HK$204.6 in grey market trading, up 79.47% from its IPO price.