Real-time News

TSMC: Sales revenue for the first six months of this year reached NT$2.4 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 35.6%.

July 13th - According to South Korean media reports, industry insiders revealed on Monday that Samsung Electronics has begun preparations for the production of Tesla's (TSLA.O) next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) chip, the AI5. Previously, a Samsung executive posted on LinkedIn that Tesla's AI5 chip had completed the tape-out process, meaning that the final design work before mass production has been completed. The AI5 is a chip developed by Tesla to provide computing power for its Full Self-Driving (FSD) system, the Optimus humanoid robot, and AI data centers.

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung: He will guide the government to support three key projects: semiconductors, artificial intelligence data centers, and physical artificial intelligence.

July 13 – Europe has been maintaining air transport by importing jet fuel from the US and Asia, increasing refinery output, and drawing on reserves, but the risk of further supply disruptions has increased as tensions in the Middle East escalate again. The UK, France, and Germany are particularly vulnerable. Data released by consultancy Energy Aspects on June 18 shows that Europe's jet fuel supply deficit in the third quarter is expected to approach 600,000 barrels per day, while the US and Asia-Pacific regions have supply surpluses of 116,000 barrels per day and 425,000 barrels per day, respectively. Energy Aspects stated that European jet fuel inventories stood at 38 million barrels at the beginning of June. Reuters calculations show that European inventories could only meet less than 30 days of demand, making it the tightest supply region among the world's major jet fuel markets. Data from the International Energy Agency's latest monthly report shows that as of the end of May, jet fuel inventories were estimated to have increased by 10% year-on-year, while refinery output increased by 30%. This also means that Europe has only about a month's buffer time. Energy analyst Janiv Shah said, "Based on current developments, we expect the market tightness to continue into August."

On July 13th, Zhengzhou rapeseed meal futures opened lower and then fluctuated downwards. Canadian canola futures surged, with the benchmark contract closing more than 5% higher, mainly reflecting the threat to canola crop growth posed by recent excessive rainfall on the grasslands and the heatwave in the EU. Strengthening Chicago soybean and soybean oil futures, along with a rebound in international crude oil futures, also provided support. Rapeseed meal spot prices followed the market decline slightly. On the demand side, demand was affected by heavy rainfall in South China, hindering the circulation of domestic rapeseed meal spot goods. Some crushing plants shut down, resulting in reduced rapeseed meal production and a slight decrease in inventory. In the short term, rapeseed meal prices are expected to continue their volatile adjustment.

On July 13th, Daiwa issued a research report predicting that Tencent Holdings (00700.HK) will raise its AI capital expenditure forecast, which will put pressure on its mid-term earnings. Meanwhile, while growth in the gaming business has slowed due to a high base, its market share growth momentum remains strong. The bank lowered its 2026-2028 earnings per share forecasts for the company by 1% to 6% to reflect the impact. Daiwa significantly raised its 2026 AI capital expenditure forecast for Tencent from RMB 108 billion to approximately RMB 181 billion to reflect the company's stronger commitment to AI investment and improved chip supply. Although higher depreciation will drag down its near-to-mid-term earnings performance, it is also expected to drive faster expansion of the cloud business and monetization of AI demand, which is expected to be released from the second half of 2026. Daiwa maintains its "Buy" rating on Tencent, but lowers its target price from HKD 700 to HKD 670.

On July 13th, SenseTime (00020.HK) officially released and fully open-sourced its daily-new SenseNova-Vision unified visual model, marking a significant upgrade to the visual capabilities of SenseTime's daily-new large model system. The core innovation of SenseNova-Vision is to make vision a native capability of the general-purpose basic model, completely integrating it into the large model system. All classic visual tasks such as object detection, image segmentation, depth prediction, and 3D reconstruction are thus natively unified.

The Jordanian military said it intercepted and shot down four missiles that entered its airspace from Iran.

July 13 – As a $1.8 trillion rally that propelled Asian chipmakers to the ranks of the world's largest companies begins to reverse, investors are cutting back on bets on Asian chip stocks, raising concerns about their excessive weighting in emerging market indices. Funds such as Fidelity International and BlackRock are expressing concern about the sustainability of the bull run in stocks like SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics. Over the past six months, the combined market capitalization of these three companies has nearly doubled, and their combined weighting in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index is now approximately 29%, exceeding the weighting of most single countries. Caroline Shaw, multi-asset portfolio manager at Fidelity International, stated that the high concentration of the index, coupled with the significant increase in leveraged bets on South Korean chip stocks amplifying price volatility, are "worrying signs." In the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, the weighting of these three stocks is currently almost three times the total weighting of all Indian stocks, and SK Hynix alone has a weighting exceeding the combined weighting of Brazil and South Africa. Wei Li, global chief investment strategist at BlackRock Investment Institute, said the firm is “happy to take profits at this stage” and reduce its overweight position in emerging market stocks relative to benchmarks due to the volatility in some large chip and memory stocks.

According to the Financial Times, serious divisions within the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee make it more difficult for the bank to rebuild its credibility after five years of inflation exceeding its target.

According to the Financial Times, investors are reducing their bets on Asian chipmakers.

July 13 - Antengene (06996.HK) announced that it has received a US$60 million upfront payment from UCB for ATG-201. This upfront payment under the landmark agreement with UCB further strengthens the Group's cash position and provides strong financial support for advancing the Group's innovative drug pipeline and accelerating access for more patients.

Jefferies: Raises its price target for Moderna (MRNA.O) from $53 to $60.

July 13th - Investors will be watching newly appointed Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh's semi-annual testimony before Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday for his latest views on inflation and interest rates, as well as updates on the progress of his plans to reform the Fed. Warsh is likely to be questioned by members of Congress about his broad Fed reform plans. The Fed previously announced the appointments to five working groups established by Warsh to assess everything from communication methods to the size of the balance sheet. Ian Lingen, head of U.S. interest rate strategy at BMO Capital Markets, said investors will be watching Warsh's testimony for more details and guidance on how the chairman is shaping the overall state of the U.S. economy and Fed policy. The market is currently in a state of low trading volume and low confidence, at least until Tuesday's inflation data and Warsh's testimony.

JPMorgan Chase raised its price target for Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) from $85 to $114.

According to the Financial Times, the EU has purchased a record amount of natural gas from Russia’s flagship plant.

Goldman Sachs: If pipeline capacity bypassing the Strait of Hormuz is expanded in the future, it will pose a downside risk to the long-term price assumption of $76 per barrel.

Goldman Sachs: Recent attacks highlight the uncertainty surrounding the export outlook in the Gulf region, and a serious escalation of the situation could exacerbate the risk of short-term upward movement in oil prices.

Goldman Sachs: Recent attacks highlight the uncertainty surrounding the export outlook in the Gulf region, and a serious escalation of the situation could exacerbate the risk of short-term upward movement in oil prices.

Goldman Sachs: (Regarding the oil market) It expects effective pipeline capacity to increase by 3.8 million barrels per day by the end of 2027; and by the end of 2028, the cumulative increase will reach 7.3 million barrels per day.