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Markets

ByteDance spin-off Anew Labs raises US$290m as AI drug developers enjoy fundraising boom

As AI’s role in drug design advances rapidly, Chinese start-ups are ramping up fundraising efforts China is seeing a fresh fundraising boom for artificial intelligence-powered drug developers, with start-ups including a ByteDance spin-off raising hundreds of millions of dollars this week as investors rush to back domestic challengers to Anthropic and Isomorphic Labs. Anew Labs, a Shanghai-based AI drug discovery firm and former unit of Chinese tech giant ByteDance, has raised US$290 million at a valuation of US$1.5 billion, according to an informed source. Investors included prominent venture capital firms such as HSG – formerly Sequoia China – IDG Capital and 5Y Capital, the source said, with ByteDance maintaining a 56 per cent stake. Anew Labs, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, operates a range of AI models for biomolecular structure prediction and design. They include AnewFold, its in-house foundation model, and Protenix, an open-source reproduction of AlphaFold 3, the most advanced biomolecular prediction AI model from Google DeepMind and its Isomorphic Labs spin-off.

September 18, 2026

Markets

How will rate increase in Japan affect capital flow in global financial markets?

Tokyo’s bond yields are seeing multi-decade highs as a central bank rate hike looms Japan is adding a fresh layer of uncertainty to global financial markets by potentially triggering a new bout of turmoil in bond markets and dampening the appetite for risk assets, as Tokyo’s pursuit of increased defence spending stokes concerns about fiscal discipline and sends sovereign bond yields to multi-year highs. The nation’s 10-year bond yield hit 3.03 per cent this week, a level not seen in three decades, while 30-year bond yields traded at 4.1 per cent, also nearing a 30-year high. The sell-offs, in which bond prices move inversely with yields, came amid speculation that Japan would seek to boost military spending to 3.5 per cent of its gross domestic product from around 2 per cent.

September 18, 2026

Markets

Hong Kong malls bet on Asian Games to boost footfall, tenant sales amid spending shifts

Mall operators are expanding sports-themed campaigns and experiences as retailers fight for consumer attention Hong Kong shopping mall operators are extending a strategy used during this year’s Fifa World Cup into the Asian Games, leveraging major sporting events to draw visitors and support tenant sales as retailers face competition from Shenzhen, overseas shopping and online spending. Sino Group is among the landlords expanding the strategy beyond tournament broadcasts. It expects foot traffic across four malls to increase during its Asian Games campaign, with selected merchants forecast to record double-digit year-on-year sales growth. The strategy builds on Sino’s experience during the World Cup, when foot traffic across three flagship malls rose by about 10 to 15 per cent year on year and overall sales recorded double-digit growth.

September 17, 2026

Markets

Pets and personal touches: how China’s luxury hotel market is changing

Today’s Chinese guests expect hotels to offer cultural experiences, personalised touches and a pet-friendly environment, Hang Lung director says Chinese customers’ growing desire for personal expression and cultural experiences has raised the game in the country’s hospitality sector, creating opportunities for leading lifestyle hotel brands, according to a director at Hong Kong developer Hang Lung Properties. “An ideal hotel is the one that can redefine hospitality with personal touches,” said Herman Chui, the company’s senior director of office, hotel and residence, during a media briefing on Wednesday. “Guests can select a teapot to their liking. The hotel also offers tailor-made key cards and other items. More importantly, a client is allowed to bring their pet along.” Chui’s remarks were made ahead of the inauguration of Hilton’s new Xi Zhe Wuxi hotel in Hang Lung’s Center 66 commercial complex in Wuxi, eastern China’s Jiangsu province.

September 17, 2026

Markets

Hong Kong property market gets reprieve on rates, but position remains precarious

Major banks hold rates steady despite Fed action, but some sellers and buyers are already anticipating increases later, agents say Hong Kong’s property market dodged an immediate hit from the Federal Reserve’s rate hike on Thursday as major local banks kept their prime rates unchanged, but another increase could puncture the market’s relatively fragile recovery, according to industry insiders. The decision should have no immediate impact on the local property market, said Joseph Tsang, chairman of JLL Hong Kong. “However, the market outlook depends on whether US rate hikes will continue.”

September 17, 2026

Markets

Fed rate hike risks worsening China’s economic divide

The US Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in three years in an effort to quell inflation partly caused by the war on Iran helping to drive up fuel prices. Policymakers voted unanimously on Wednesday to lift rates by 25 basis points to between 3.75 and 4.00 per cent. Sixteen of 18 committee members also said that they anticipate another rate hike this year. The increase will help inflation make a “timelier return” to a 2 per cent target, according to a statement, as new Fed...

September 17, 2026

Markets

Who’s in control of Japanese monetary policy? Tokyo or Washington?

Bessent’s intervention could have adverse implications for Japan’s economy, the BOJ’s credibility and tech-heavy stock markets in Asia Fast forward to today, and the chances of an increase have shot up to almost 100 per cent. In fact, expectations have shifted so dramatically that bond markets are pricing in a one percentage point rise in borrowing costs to 2 per cent by the third quarter of 2027. JPMorgan is even more hawkish and expects Japanese interest rates to rise to 2.25 per cent by the end of next year.

September 17, 2026

Markets

How Hong Kong’s new 5-year plan courts global capital with an eye on market dominance

Expanded investment products and stronger mainland-market links aim to deepen Hong Kong’s wealth-management edge and lure more international investors Hong Kong is broadening its equity markets, deepening its offshore yuan business and expanding further into gold trading under its first five-year plan for economic and social development, as the city seeks to defend its standing as Asia’s top financial centre and close the gap with London. At the core of Hong Kong’s strategy is a revitalised equities market. The local exchange is set to study looser listing rules – including adjusted market-capitalisation thresholds – for technology companies of “strategic importance” while broadening secondary listing channels by adding the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange to its recognised-bourse list.

September 17, 2026

Markets

Huawei quickens AI chip pace, promises next entrant 3 quarters early

Company says ‘performance-doubling’ Ascend 960DT training chip to debut in first quarter, followed by 960PR inference chip in third quarter Huawei Technologies said on Thursday that it would launch its next-generation artificial intelligence chip in the first quarter of 2027, moving the target launch forward by nine months as the firm aggressively expands its ecosystem amid China’s self-sufficiency push. David Wang Tao, rotating and acting chairman for Huawei, said on Thursday that the Ascend 960DT chip, an AI chip designed for model training, “with performance doubling”, would be “ready in the first quarter of 2027”, three quarters ahead of schedule. The Ascend 960PR, designed for AI model inference, would launch in the third quarter of 2027, a quarter earlier than expected. Speaking at the Huawei Connect 2026 conference in Shanghai, Wang said that the Ascend series would “continue to follow an annual upgrade cycle”, with the Ascend 970 and 980 launching in 2028 and 2029, respectively. The announcements came ahead of expected high-level trade talks between President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump next week, where AI and semiconductor exports are set to top the technology agenda.

September 17, 2026

Markets

Exchange Fund weighs bigger gold holdings to support Hong Kong’s trading hub plan

A larger allocation to precious metals could improve diversification and align with the city’s gold hub strategy, says HKMA’s Eddie Yue Hong Kong’s Exchange Fund, the war chest used to defend the local currency, is considering increasing its exposure to gold and other precious metals as part of the government’s push to develop the city into a gold trading hub. Yue said the Exchange Fund could increase its allocation to gold, which currently accounted for only a small portion of its portfolio, but he did not disclose the scale or timing of any potential purchases.

September 17, 2026

Markets

Hong Kong to support rocket, satellite IPOs as SpaceX-led sector takes off

Hong Kong aims to adjust listing rules to grab a share of initial public offerings by mainland China’s space companies, in line with Beijing’s priorities and heightened activity in the sector following the blockbuster June listing by Elon Musk’s SpaceX. That could lead to more head-to-head competition between the Hong Kong stock exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange, which is now drawing a majority of applications, including commercial space launch providers and reusable rocket makers CAS...

September 17, 2026

Markets

Hong Kong stocks decline after Fed raises interest rates and signals more to come

Investors look to Japan’s next rate decision after the Fed points to further tightening this year Stocks in Hong Kong and mainland China fell on Thursday, after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in three years and signalled that further tightening remained on the table. The benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 0.8 per cent to 24,537.30 as of 9.30am local time. The Hang Seng Tech Index lost 0.5 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index slipped 0.2 per cent, while the chip-heavy Star Market 50 index was little changed.

September 17, 2026