Real-time News

July 26 - Xiyin International Holdings Limited updated its post-hearing information set, indicating that its Hong Kong Stock Exchange IPO has passed the hearing.

On July 26, Want Want China Holdings Limited announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that the Group expects (i) revenue for the three months ended June 30, 2026 to decrease by approximately 6% compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year, mainly due to weakening market sentiment; and (ii) profit attributable to equity holders of the Company for the three months ended June 30, 2026 to decrease by approximately 38% compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year, mainly due to decreased revenue but increased operating expenses. If these trends continue without significant change, the Company expects its interim results for the six months ended September 30, 2026 to be negatively impacted.

Israel Statistics Authority: Industrial output fell 6.2% month-on-month in May (seasonally adjusted), compared to a 29.9% increase in April.

According to Japan's Kyodo News, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's cabinet approval rating has dropped to 53.7%, the lowest point since the cabinet was formed.

On July 26, Saudi Aramco shares fell as much as 1.0% in early trading, dropping to 26.56 riyals. This decline followed attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen on two Aramco oil facilities in the Saudi cities of Jizan and Yanbu, raising concerns about potential disruptions to the state-owned oil giant's operations and infrastructure. However, including today's decline, the stock is still up approximately 11.8% year-to-date. According to data from the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), of the 17 brokerages covering the stock, 10 have a "buy" rating or higher, and 7 have a "hold" rating. The median target price is 30.80 riyals, implying an upside of approximately 16% from the intraday low.

The African Development Bank's climate chief said African countries need up to $50 billion in additional climate financing this year to help combat climate change.

On July 26th, JiKr released a statement regarding overseas self-driving car infotainment system prompts and subsequent optimizations, adjusting its security strategy for outbound vehicles. JiKr stated that the "Cross-border Protection" function was officially launched on the JiKr App in the early hours of July 26th. Car owners can quickly obtain verification codes and unlock their vehicles with a single click, simplifying the process and improving response efficiency. Additionally, a "Cross-border Protection function switch" is under development and will be pushed out via OTA. Once the switch is launched, "Cross-border Protection" will be off by default. Before departure, car owners can manually turn it on or off on their mobile devices according to their needs. JiKr emphasized that if car owners actively enable this function, the vehicle infotainment system will display a prompt and some functions will be restricted after leaving the country. At that time, car owners can still unlock their vehicles themselves through the "Cross-border Protection" entry in the App, achieving a balance between "anti-theft protection" and "free passage."

On July 26, an official statement revealed that Iraq will sign a pipeline construction agreement with Syria to connect domestic oilfields and export crude oil to global markets via the Mediterranean. The Iraqi cabinet issued a statement saying it has authorized the general manager of Basra Oil Company to sign a memorandum of understanding for the project with the Syrian Ministry of Oil. The cabinet also instructed the Minister of Oil to sign a memorandum of understanding with a consortium of companies including ConocoPhillips, TI Capital, and Novatera to initiate consultations on the exploration and development assessment of the Arkas oil and gas field and surrounding areas.

Official data shows that Saudi Arabia's imports fell by 19.5% in May. Saudi Arabia's non-oil exports (including re-exports) decreased by 26.1% compared to May 2025.

When asked about the current situation in the Strait of Hormuz, a spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry stated that there has been no change in the navigation situation.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman: Negotiations between Iran and Oman regarding the Strait of Hormuz have been fruitful. Technical and political consultations between the two sides are ongoing.

On July 26th, British Artificial Intelligence Minister Michel Narayan stated that chip manufacturing and drones will be central to Prime Minister Burnham's efforts to promote the UK's "reindustrialization," emphasizing that these technologies will occupy a "top priority" in the new prime minister's plans. However, Narayan stated that the government rejects blindly promoting "technological fanaticism" and will address the "substantial risks" that artificial intelligence poses to employment and national security through regulation and other measures. Regarding the US government's unexpected decision last month to impose export controls on Anthropic's Mythos model, Narayan pointed out that artificial intelligence "has become a central point of contention in geopolitics, and the way to deal with this situation must be to build our own capabilities to gain influence and leverage."

On July 26th, NVIDIA announced on the 25th that it is collaborating with Seoul National University to establish the "NVIDIA AI Technology Center (NVAITC)". The two companies plan to use this center as a core to focus on AI research, expert training, and educational program operations. Joint research areas will cover foundational models, accelerated computing, physical AI, and scientific AI. Furthermore, the two companies will jointly explore solutions for building computing infrastructure to support large-scale AI research. In addition, they plan to utilize NVIDIA's open AI model "NVIDIA Nemotron" and the world's foundational model "Cosmos" for related research.

July 26th - According to foreign media reports, "Big Short" Michael Burry continues to short Micron, Nvidia, and other semiconductor companies. In a Substack post, Burry stated that he further shorted Micron Technology (MU.O) at $933.86 and increased his short position in Nvidia (NVDA.O) at $210.28. Burry also further shorted Caterpillar (CAT.N) at $893.49 and increased his short position in the iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) at $535.83.

July 26 – According to a report by The New York Times, US President Trump has shelved plans for a significant escalation of military action against Iran. Trump is concerned that an escalation could dangerously deplete the Pentagon's already dwindling stockpile of Patriot missile interceptors and other air defense munitions in the Middle East. The report states that government officials indicated that the strain on interceptor stockpiles is one of many factors making a resumption of large-scale military action extremely risky. Furthermore, Trump and his senior advisors are also uneasy about the potential for a escalation of the Middle East conflict, the possible alienation of key Gulf allies vulnerable to Iranian attacks, a global economic shock, and a worsening energy and refugee crisis.

Tibo, product lead at OpenAI: ChatGPT Work has officially surpassed Codex in the number of active users.

On July 26th, Huang Renxun discussed the US-China AI competition in an interview with foreign media on July 25th. He stated that outstanding talent will always find excellent solutions, and China is destined to produce excellent AI technology; therefore, China should continue to learn from and cooperate with them.

July 26 – The latest epidemic report released by the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of Congo on July 25 shows that the cumulative number of confirmed cases of Ebola in the country has risen to 3,075, with 1,354 deaths. Data shows that as of July 24, a total of 755 patients were receiving isolation or hospitalization treatment, and the cumulative number of recovered cases was 556. The outbreak has spread to five provinces: Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Haut-Uele, and Chowpo.