Real-time News

According to real-time data from Lighthouse Pro, as of 00:00 on August 18, the box office of the film "Welcome to Dragon Restaurant" has exceeded 1 billion yuan.

On August 17, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced on social media that it had launched attacks on multiple Russian military storage, launch, and control facilities for attack drones in Crimea and Kherson in the early hours of the day. The General Staff stated that a storage and launch site for Russian attack drones in the village of the Guards in Crimea caught fire after being attacked by Ukrainian forces. In addition, the Ukrainian military also attacked a ground control station for attack drones in western Crimea and the communication and power generation equipment of a drone relay station in southwestern Kherson. Ukraine stated that its military will continue to launch attacks on key Russian military targets.

Market news: A senior Iranian official denied Iranian involvement in the drone strike targeting the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government's office in Erbil. The official stated that the incident was yet another false flag operation and had nothing to do with Iran.

The German DAX 30 index closed down 97.04 points, or 0.37%, at 26,335.82 on Monday, August 17; the UK FTSE 100 index closed down 30.96 points, or 0.29%, at 10,719.15 on Monday, August 17; and the French CAC 40 index closed down 57.20 points, or 0.66%, at 8,579.60 on Monday, August 17; the Eurozone... The Stoxx 50 index closed down 10.24 points, or 0.16%, at 6529.35 on Monday, August 17; the Spanish IBEX 35 index closed down 183.06 points, or 0.91%, at 19973.54 on Monday, August 17; and the Italian FTSE MIB index closed down 9.61 points, or 0.02%, at 53574.00 on Monday, August 17.

The Office of the Canadian Minister of Trade: Secretary LeBlanc and chief negotiator Charette will meet with U.S. Trade Representative Greer and Commerce Secretary Lutnick at the Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C. at 1:00 p.m. ET today (01:00 a.m. Beijing time the following day).

The Deputy Speaker of the Iranian Parliament stated that the Caspian Convention will be submitted to the National Security Council for review, and Parliament will carefully assess whether the convention adequately protects national interests. The Caspian Sea is as important to us as the Strait of Hormuz; it is no different from the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf, or the Sea of Oman. From ecological, economic, and national security perspectives, the Caspian Sea is not negotiable, and the interests of all neighboring countries must be guaranteed.

U.S. Energy Secretary Wright: I will discuss with U.S. companies on Monday how to increase refinery capacity.

An official from the Gaza Peace Committee stated: "We have reached a path forward with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. The Israelis will give this matter a chance."

The yield on 30-year UK government bonds rose 2 basis points to 5.81%, the highest level since May 18.

Iranian Foreign Ministry: Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bagaei said that the most important change in the region after the two wars imposed on Iran by the United States and Israel, especially after the most recent war, is that regional countries have concluded that the United States is an unreliable and untrustworthy partner.

According to the Iranian Students' News Agency, Iraqi Prime Minister Zaidi stated that Iraq is one of the countries most affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Iraq cannot rely on a single oil export route, nor can it continue to be dependent on a single passage.

According to Iran's Tasnim News Agency: The United States has once again sent spy balloons to fly over Erbil, Iraq.

Intel (INTC.O) rose more than 3%.

According to RIA Novosti, Russia says it has hit two cargo ships in a Ukrainian port.

The U.S. Geological Survey reports a magnitude 5.0 earthquake 32 kilometers north of Ruten, Indonesia.

Market news: US financial services company Synchrony announced a corporate collaboration agreement with OpenAI. Synchrony will deploy GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra, and Luna models and will also launch the ChatGPT plugin.

On August 17th, Goldman Sachs data showed that global bond issuance fell 16% year-on-year last week, but year-to-date issuance is still 9% higher than the same period last year. Investment-grade corporate bond issuance surged 60%, while high-yield bond issuance fell 41%, and leveraged loan issuance plummeted 88%. Financial sector bond issuance rose 38%, while structured finance issuance fell 64%. Meanwhile, ETF assets tracking the S&P and MSCI indices continued to grow strongly, rising 32% and 36% respectively.

The Spanish IBEX 35 index fell below 20,000 points, down 0.78% on the day.

According to the Iranian Students' News Agency, Saudi Arabia used artillery fire to attack villages in the Al-Shawarq district of Lazih, a border city in Yemen's Saada province.