Real-time News

According to Al Jazeera, the Yemeni Navy says it has seized a Red Sea vessel carrying drone manufacturing equipment, which was headed for the Houthi rebels.

Russian e-commerce platform Ozon: Its logistics facilities in Orenburg and Ufa were attacked by drones.

August 27th - According to the latest MLCC industry research from TrendForce, South Korean giant Samsung Electro-Mechanics has recently taken the lead in raising prices for its OEM and ODM customers in the fourth quarter of 2026, signifying that the MLCC industry has officially entered an upward trend. TrendForce predicts that Samsung Electro-Mechanics will raise the average price of its consumer-grade X5R products by 25% to 30% for OEM and ODM customers, thereby curbing order placement and freeing up capacity to expand its high-end production lines. The price increase for its high-end X6S products used in AI servers will be negotiated with customers, with an average increase of 10% to 20%. Japanese giants Murata, Taiyo Yuden, and Kyocera are currently taking a wait-and-see approach, maintaining stable prices. Whether they follow suit with price adjustments will be key to observing whether the upward trend can expand.

The Russian Ministry of Defense stated: "We conducted strikes against facilities within Ukraine's military-industrial complex, oil extraction and refining plants, and logistics centers. Our strikes last night targeted Kyiv and several cities and ports along Ukraine's Black Sea coast."

On August 27th, Ajith Nair, Chief Investment Officer of Isio Investment Management, stated that the Jackson Hole symposium may not focus too much on immediate policy decisions, but rather on the long-term direction of monetary policy, central bank policy thinking, and its impact on investors. "While the market will naturally focus on interest rates, this year's more noteworthy event is Warsh's first appearance as Federal Reserve Chairman at Jackson Hole, and what his vision for the future of the Fed might reveal," Nair pointed out. He added that one of the most noteworthy changes under Warsh's leadership is his apparent desire to reduce market reliance on Fed forecasts and policy path predictions, and this Jackson Hole symposium may further reinforce this approach.

On August 27th, it was reported that MTN Group, Africa's largest mobile operator, will partner with Dubai billionaire Tariq Al Ashram to develop data centers in Africa. Al Ashram stated that he will invest through his investment company in the newly established Africa Data Hub Holding joint venture. Africa boasts the world's fastest-growing and youngest population, but has fallen behind in the global race to build local AI computing power. According to the World Economic Forum, Africa possesses less than 1% of the world's AI data center computing power. However, Al Ashram stated that Africa now presents "equally attractive opportunities," similar to the development experienced by the Middle East over the past few years. MTN CEO Mupita said on Tuesday that they will initially build 150 megawatts of AI data center computing power. The joint venture plans to build data centers in Nigeria and South Africa to handle MTN's own workloads, while also leasing computing power to hyperscale cloud service providers, other enterprise customers, and governments.

SAP SE (SAP.N) shares rose 2.4% in pre-market trading, influenced by earnings reports from Salesforce and CrowdStrike.

Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino: There is no need for a comprehensive data assessment of the impact of past interest rate hikes before raising interest rates.

August 27th - As economic and trade ties between the mainland and Hong Kong become increasingly close, Hong Kong consumers' acceptance of mainland home appliances continues to rise. Yesterday (August 26th), the Hong Kong Electrical and Mechanical Services Department officially released the first batch of 50 national standards in the home appliance sector that are mutually recognized with IEC international standards. This marks a further reduction in technical standard barriers for mainland home appliances entering the Hong Kong market. Chen Cong, a fourth-level chief staff member of the Monitoring and Early Warning Section of the Commodity Inspection Department of Shenzhen Customs, said that after this mutual recognition, relevant mainland home appliances that meet national standards only need to be equipped with plugs suitable for Hong Kong, without needing to undergo further testing and certification according to IEC standards, and can seamlessly enter the Hong Kong market. Next, Shenzhen Customs will continue to expand the categories of mutually recognized standards to further promote smooth trade.

Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino: The Bank of Japan will make interest rate decisions while balancing the need to obtain information on economic and financial conditions with the need to act promptly to avoid falling behind in terms of inflation.

Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino: When making policy decisions, we will take into account the potential inflation rate of close to 2%.

Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino: It is not to say that the Bank of Japan will not adjust its policies if it does not have a complete grasp of economic, price, and financial dynamics.

August 27th - According to the Wall Street Journal, Vietnam has become the biggest beneficiary in the year following efforts to rearrange global trade to benefit the United States. Data from the first half of this year shows that Vietnam's trade surplus with the United States reached $114 billion, exceeding that of Mexico. This is an unexpected result for an economy only a quarter the size of Mexico.

Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino: The recent rise in yields will not affect the Bank of Japan's balance sheet adjustments.

On August 27th, Reto Cueni, Chief Economist at SET Group, stated in a report that the market may slightly increase its expectations for a rate hike at the Federal Reserve's September meeting. However, he pointed out that the market still largely expects the Fed not to raise rates, and SET Group itself does not currently anticipate a rate hike. Cueni stated, "Currently, we maintain our judgment that the Fed will not raise rates further in the second half of this year." According to LSEG data, the money market currently estimates a 65% probability that the Fed will maintain its current interest rate at its September meeting.

August 27th - According to Alibaba Cloud, Alibaba released a new product, Qoder, an intelligent workbench for everyone, with coding as its core capability. Users don't need to start with code; they only need to describe their goals in natural language, and Qoder can then utilize coding and tool capabilities to complete tasks such as development, prototyping, and data processing.

Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino: No central bank would adjust the degree of monetary easing by shocking the market.

On August 27th, the Ministry of Commerce and eight other departments issued an opinion on promoting the high-quality development of bonded aviation maintenance. The opinion states that products repaired under bond and not re-exported but instead sold domestically can be sold domestically in accordance with relevant national regulations after obtaining the necessary airworthiness certificates. For products repaired within comprehensive bonded zones and sold domestically, import duties, import value-added tax, and consumption tax will be levied according to the actual declared condition of the repaired goods. For products repaired outside comprehensive bonded zones and sold domestically, import duties, import value-added tax, and consumption tax will be paid as if the goods were imported directly under bond, and domestic value-added tax and consumption tax will be levied accordingly. Maintenance enterprises providing bonded maintenance and other repair services to foreign entities can apply for export tax refunds (exemptions) as stipulated. The opinion also emphasizes strengthening the linkage between fiscal and insurance policies to enhance the underwriting enthusiasm and service quality of export credit insurance, supporting the high-quality development of bonded aviation maintenance.

Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino: The weak GDP data is somewhat worrying, but it may be due to technical factors and therefore is not enough to change my view on the economic outlook.