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Markets

China, US bond markets diverge as Warsh strikes hawkish tone at Jackson Hole

Strong momentum is predicted to drive the yield on China’s 10-year government bonds to a low of 1.65 per cent, according to analysts In the US, the 30-year yield was wavering near a two-decade high of 5.304 per cent, with investors continuing to demand the so-called term premium even after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he would double a buy-back programme to rein in the bond rout. Warsh’s surprisingly hawkish comment at the Jackson Hole symposium on Friday came as the latest frustration for Treasuries. The front-end yields rose immediately after Warsh focused his speech on restoring price stability, implying policy priority of inflation over employment. Warsh’s scrapping of forward policy guidance in a shift of approach to market communications may add more volatility to US Treasuries, said Li Xianglong, an analyst at Great Wall Securities, adding it would have a “limited impact on China’s bond market, which will trade on its own logic”. The disconnect between the world’s two largest debt markets will have implications on reshaping global capital flows across assets, with investors seeking diversification from US assets amid record fiscal debts and unbridled bond issuance by the White House under President Donald Trump.

August 31, 2026

Markets

Will Hong Kong see fewer creditor-led commercial property sales as assets stabilise?

City’s office and retail property segments have been mired in a multi-year slump that has triggered loan defaults Financial distress in Hong Kong’s commercial property market has moderated but not been completely eliminated, analysts say, with highly leveraged asset owners still expected to find refinancing their loans a challenge. The city’s office and retail property segments have been mired in a multi-year slump, with new supply outstripping demand in recent years as consumption slowed and interest rates surged, triggering loan defaults. “We do not expect defaults will increase noticeably from this time point, with transaction activity remaining relatively resilient, and much of the valuation correction has already been reflected in pricing,” said Thomas Chak, head of capital markets and investment services at Colliers Hong Kong.

August 30, 2026

Markets

HKEX Tech 100 adds Pony AI, WeRide in index revamp targeting AI stocks

The revision is designed to help the tech index recover from an underwhelming first half by tapping a new generation of Chinese AI firms Other additions include AI drug-discovery specialist Insilico Medicine, printed-circuit-board maker Victory Giant Technology, enterprise AI company Beijing Haizhi Technology and AI data-intelligence provider Mininglamp Technology. The 10 companies are rounded out by data infrastructure company Shenzhen Xunce Technology, robotics firm OneRobotics (Shenzhen), digital-twin specialist Beijing 51World Digital Twin Technology, and semiconductor player Montage Technology, according to a statement issued by HKEX on Friday. Meanwhile, 14 constituents will be removed from the index, including Alibaba Health Information Technology, Ganfeng Lithium Group, JD Health International, Bilibili and NetEase Cloud Music. The changes will take effect on September 14, according to the statement. The reshuffle follows an overhaul of the Tech 100 methodology announced earlier this month, which HKEX said would broaden the benchmark’s exposure to “emerging technology trends, including opportunities across the AI value chain”.

August 28, 2026

Markets

China’s CXMT posts massive 870% revenue surge as ‘aggressive expansion’ pays off

China’s leading DRAM chipmaker outperforms its own forecasts in its first financial results since a blockbuster Shanghai listing The Hefei-based firm – China’s leading maker of dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) products – posted revenue of 150.31 billion yuan (US$22.4 billion) for the six months to June, up 873.64 per cent year on year, according to a filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Net profit attributable to shareholders reached 77.61 billion yuan, reversing a loss of 2.33 billion yuan in the same period last year. The results were well above CXMT’s pre-initial public offering guidance, which forecast first-half revenue of 110 billion to 120 billion yuan and net profit of 50 billion to 57 billion yuan. Revenue exceeded the top end of that range by about 25 per cent, while attributable profit was about 36 per cent higher. The company has also benefited from expanding production and an improving product mix as it ramps up output of newer products including DDR5, which is increasingly used in personal computers, workstations and servers. DDR-series revenue reached 69.47 billion yuan in the first half, accounting for 46.3 per cent of CXMT’s main business revenue, up from 31.9 per cent in 2025.

August 28, 2026

Markets

BOCHK posts higher profit as lower credit costs offset margin pressure

Bank beats forecast with HK$23.74 billion profit, helped by reduced credit costs and stronger fee income from wealth and insurance Profit attributable to shareholders came to HK$23.74 billion (US$3 billion) for the six months to June 30, or HK$2.2453 per share, according to a stock exchange filing on Friday. The result beat analysts’ average estimate of HK$22.94 billion. BOCHK’s net interest margin, including income from foreign exchange swap contracts, stood at 1.57 per cent, versus 1.54 per cent a year earlier. “We will further optimise our management in Southeast Asia and build a leading regional headquarters,” said Sun Yu, vice-chairman and chief executive of BOCHK, at a press conference on Friday. Sun added that BOCHK would actively support national strategies and Hong Kong’s development, while striving to “continue creating enhanced value for shareholders and stakeholders”. Credit costs also eased during the period, supporting the lender’s bottom line after elevated impairment charges in recent years.

August 28, 2026

Markets

Macau tycoon Lawrence Ho’s family office expands into space sector in de-SPAC deal

The business combination with Singapore-based Astrum Space could set the stage for a New York Stock Exchange debut by the end of the year Under the agreement, Singapore-based Astrum Space will combine with special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Black Spade Acquisition III, or BIII, at an equity value of about US$1 billion. The combined entity, Astrum Space Company, would seek a listing on the New York Stock Exchange, according to a press release published on Thursday. “Over the years, the space sector has evolved into one of today’s most dynamic industries and continues to play an increasingly important role in everyday life,” said Dennis Tam, executive chairman of the board and co-CEO of BIII, in the statement. “This partnership with Astrum reflects our belief in the power of enabling technologies to create meaningful impact.” Founded in 2023, Astrum is developing a next-generation satellite-to-device (S2D) broadcast network for the Asia-Pacific region. The company operates a wholesale business model targeting mobile network operators, broadcasters, governments and enterprise clients.

August 28, 2026

Markets

MiniMax expands Alibaba cloud pact as compute needs surge for training and inference

Chinese AI firm burns through two-thirds of its cloud budget by June, forcing a dramatic increase in its Alibaba deal ceiling The Shanghai-based company planned to spend up to US$300 million on Alibaba Cloud services this year, nearly triple its original US$115 million cap, after burning through two-thirds of its budget by the end of June, according to its Hong Kong stock exchange filings on Wednesday. In a separate revision, MiniMax expanded its application programming interface (API) service budget with Alibaba, raising the 2026 cap from US$650,000 to US$7.5 million, an over tenfold increase. This brings its three-year API spending ceiling to US$62.5 million, a nearly 20-fold jump from previous limits. The aggressive revisions reflect MiniMax’s expanding compute needs for both model training and live inference. Known for its M-series large language models, the H3 video-generation model and popular consumer app Hailuo AI, MiniMax this week reported a 283 per cent surge in first-half revenue to US$116.6 million, driven by a 700 per cent leap in enterprise sales.

August 28, 2026

Markets

Bitcoin rally and Alibaba share purchases: the numbers moving markets

Alibaba shares, bitcoin, Hong Kong second-hand home prices and Shein’s IPO plans in spotlight this week Bitcoin and gold rallied this week as the size of America’s sovereign debt continued to haunt global financial markets. Meanwhile, Alibaba Group Holding’s top executives and founder Jack Ma bought back shares, and Shein announced plans for a smaller Hong Kong initial public offering than previously expected. Here are some of the figures that have drawn the most market attention this week. Alibaba founder Ma, chairman Joe Tsai and CEO Eddie Wu Yongming collectively bought more than HK$800 million (US$102 million) worth of the company’s Hong Kong-listed shares within days.

August 28, 2026

Markets

China Life’s revenue surges as top insurer ramps up investment in AI, chips and biotech

Company pledges long-term support for tech-innovation after revenue jumps 81 per cent and net profit soars 228 per cent The Shanghai- and Hong Kong-listed insurer recorded revenue of 434.3 billion yuan (US$64.6 billion), up 81.5 per cent year on year, according to interim results released on Thursday. Net profit surged more than 228 per cent to 134.5 billion yuan. The company, the world’s largest life insurer by market value, attributed profit growth to business development with risk control, progress in product and business diversification, refined asset allocation and robust investment returns. “Investment in areas related to new quality productive forces represents a key growth driver best positioned to deliver differentiated returns, and there lies broad potential for future investment and layout,” vice-president Liu Hui said at a press briefing in Beijing on Friday.

August 28, 2026

Markets

China’s commercial space sector expands global footprint with Thailand deal

GalaxySpace describes mission as first turnkey satellite export to a Southeast Asian customer by a Chinese commercial space company Beijing-based GalaxySpace’s deployed what it called China’s first turnkey satellite export to Southeast Asia this week, underscoring the country’s efforts to boost its influence in the space industry overseas amid competition with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. GalaxySpace said it launched the Lingzhi-09 Thailand CubeSat aboard a Long March-6C rocket – alongside six other satellites – from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Centre in Shanxi province on Tuesday. Developed for Thailand’s Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA), the CubeSat satellite will collect remote-sensing data for land, agriculture and ecological applications, and also support practical training for Thai university students. The mission marked the first time that a Chinese commercial space company had developed, launched and deployed a complete satellite in orbit for a Southeast Asian customer as a packaged solution, showing the sector’s ability to provide integrated services spanning satellite delivery, operations and training, the company said.

August 28, 2026

Markets

US surgical robotics firm eyes Hong Kong listing to power push into mainland China

Noah Medical expects to file application as early as next year, joining surge of tech listings tapping city’s international fundraising pool The US-headquartered company aimed to raise more than US$100 million and planned to file its listing application as early as next year, according to founder Zhang Jian. “We want to expand our business in [mainland] China, and Hong Kong – as an international financial centre with a globally recognised stock exchange – is the natural choice for our listing,” Zhang said in an interview on the sidelines of MedTech World Asia in Hong Kong on Thursday. Hangzhou’s Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital is a target customer, following regulatory approval from China’s drug regulator in November last year. In Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital had purchased Noah Medical’s equipment, Zhang said. Currently, 90 per cent of the company’s revenue is generated in the United States, where its surgical robots have treated about 15,000 patients.

August 28, 2026

Markets

Chinese battery giant CATL spreads investments in search of new growth drivers

World’s largest producer of lithium-ion batteries for EVs and energy storage systems has committed over 17 billion yuan to non-battery deals Since June last year, at least seven CATL-led equity deals involving a total of over 17 billion yuan (US$2.5 billion) have been announced in non-battery industries. The sectors involved span humanoid robots, state-owned hydropower stations, artificial intelligence data centres (AIDCs) and large-language-model developer DeepSeek. The equity investments by Fujian-based CATL seemed primarily strategic, similar to its earlier playbook of forming joint ventures with carmakers and investing in EV start-ups, said Yang Jing, director of Asia-Pacific corporate ratings at Fitch Ratings. “As the incumbent leader, sustaining market share and margins requires identifying new high-growth frontiers early and capturing first-mover advantages,” she said. “AIDC’s high-growth, high-barrier characteristics position it as a potential ‘third growth curve’ alongside EVs and energy storage systems.” CATL is the world’s largest producer of lithium-ion batteries for EVs and energy storage systems.

August 28, 2026