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On June 15th, in response to being summoned for talks by the State Administration for Market Regulation, Sams Club China stated, "Recently, we accepted the guidance and talks from the market supervision department. We fully acknowledge, deeply reflect upon, and sincerely accept the issues and rectification requirements pointed out by the regulatory department during the talks. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and trouble caused to our members." Sams Club China further stated, "Currently, the company has established a special rectification working group led by management, and immediately launched a comprehensive self-inspection and rectification campaign across all channels and the entire supply chain. We will strictly comply with relevant laws and regulations and regulatory requirements, comprehensively optimize food safety management and product quality control, strictly adhere to the bottom line of food safety, and improve the member experience. We will regularly report the rectification progress to the regulatory department and actively accept supervision from all sectors of society. We once again thank the regulatory department for its supervision and guidance, and thank our members for their trust and support."On June 15th, former Bank of Japan chief economist Seisaku Kameda stated on Monday that the US-Iran peace agreement is unlikely to change the Bank of Japans expectation of two interest rate hikes this year. With inflationary pressures intensifying, the Bank of Japan is expected to raise its short-term policy rate from 0.75% to 1% on Tuesday. Kameda stated that this would have been done in April had the Middle East war not broken out. He indicated that if the peace agreement facilitates the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, it might alleviate some of the pressure on the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates faster than expected to curb inflation. "However, this will not change the Bank of Japans plan to normalize monetary policy by raising interest rates approximately twice a year, pushing up the still low real borrowing costs," Kameda said. He pointed out that after the June rate hike, the Bank of Japan is likely to raise rates again in October or December. Furthermore, Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda will miss the June meeting due to treatment for an infectious liver cyst in the hospital. Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida will preside over the press conference on his behalf. Seisaku Kameda stated that Shinichi Uchida is expected to reiterate the Bank of Japans determination to continue raising interest rates, but given the continued uncertainty surrounding the situation in the Middle East, he will avoid giving a clear indication of the timing of the next rate hike.The China Earthquake Networks Center officially reported that a magnitude 3.0 earthquake occurred at 11:24 on June 15 in Linhe District, Bayannur City, Inner Mongolia (40.72 degrees north latitude, 107.35 degrees east longitude), with a focal depth of 10 kilometers.June 15 – Public consultation on Hong Kongs first Five-Year Plan began today (June 15). Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Tse Siu-wah, stated that the Hong Kong Five-Year Plan is of great importance and closely related to every citizen. He thanked Legislative Council members, Hong Kong deputies to the National Peoples Congress and the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference, and industry representatives for their previous suggestions. The Hong Kong SAR government will hold several more consultation events to listen to opinions from all sectors and hopes for their active participation.On June 15th, Baidus DuMate platform completed a core engine upgrade. Through continuous optimization of the Harness engine and multiple engineering aspects, the token consumption during task execution was reduced by 75%, and the corresponding user points consumption was also reduced by 75%, while ensuring that the agents intelligent capabilities and task execution performance were not affected. This is the first time that a significant reduction in task consumption has been achieved in a general-purpose intelligent agent product in China through the Harness engine and engineering optimization.

Following a two-day increase, oil prices were subdued and were on course for a weeklong decline

Haiden Holmes

Aug 19, 2022 11:17

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After a two-day jump on indications of increased U.S. demand, oil prices traded flat on Friday, but were still poised for weekly losses due to concerns about a Chinese slowdown and a probable Iranian-led supply glut.


At 20:19 ET (00:19 GMT), West Texas Intermediate Futures jumped 0.1% to $90.62 per barrel, while London-traded Brent oil futures increased 0.1% to $96.62 per barrel. In response to a string of positive demand indicators from the United States, both contracts have risen between $2 and $3 during the past two days.


Nonetheless, they were anticipated to lose over 2% each for the week, as negative economic news from China, a major importer, drastically lowered prices at the beginning of the week. According to data released on Monday, Chinese industrial output dropped in July, while the People's Bank of China unexpectedly slashed interest rates in reaction to lackluster development.


Speculation regarding the possible revival of the Iran nuclear deal, which might result in the lifting of numerous Western sanctions against the country, further reduced oil prices. It is predicted that this action will enhance daily supply by more than one million barrels.


Concerns over slowing global economic growth have drastically lowered oil prices in recent months, with prices recently reaching their lowest levels since February, wiping out all gains made due to supply bottlenecks caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.


Nonetheless, this week's second half showed minimal price support. Two days ago, oil prices increased as a result of a larger-than-anticipated fall in U.S. crude inventories and signs that gasoline consumption in the country was rising steadily.


Traders also hypothesized that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies (OPEC+) could restrict output to stabilize prices.


Despite the cartel's recent return to pre-COVID production levels, OPEC Secretary-General Al Ghais has recently hinted at a supply cut if prices continue to fall.


Ghais also reassured entrepreneurs that forecasts of an economic collapse in China were exaggerated.