Real-time News

Italy's trade deficit with the EU in January was -€1.138 billion, compared to -€2.447 billion in the previous month.

Italy's trade balance in January was €1.089 billion, compared to €6.037 billion in the previous month.

The Eurozone's unadjusted current account balance for January was €13 billion, compared to €34.577 billion in the previous month.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced today that it has launched the 67th wave of Operation True Commitment 4.

March 20th - According to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), the passenger car market experienced a significant seasonal decline in February 2026 due to the extended Spring Festival holiday. Data from the CPCA shows that retail sales of passenger cars reached 1.034 million units in February, a year-on-year decrease of 25.4% and a month-on-month decrease of 33.1%. Retail sales of new energy passenger vehicles reached 464,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 32.0%, with a penetration rate of 44.9%. With the first quarter drawing to a close, most manufacturers are adopting a neutral to optimistic outlook for March sales. The latest survey results show that leading manufacturers, accounting for over 70% of total market sales, have increased their retail targets for this month by more than 60% compared to the previous month. Based on this, it is preliminarily estimated that the retail market size of passenger cars in March will be approximately 1.7 million units, a month-on-month increase of 64.5% and a year-on-year decrease of 12.4%. Among them, new energy vehicle retail sales are estimated at around 900,000 units, with a penetration rate of approximately 52.9%.

March 20th Futures News: The following are the warehouse receipts and changes for various commodities traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange: 1. Tin futures warehouse receipts: 9486 tons, a decrease of 789 tons from the previous trading day; 2. International copper futures warehouse receipts: 15144 tons, unchanged from the previous trading day; 3. Lead futures warehouse receipts: 58174 tons, a decrease of 3677 tons from the previous trading day; 4. Medium-sulfur crude oil futures warehouse receipts: 3511000 barrels, unchanged from the previous trading day; 5. Gold futures warehouse receipts: 106845 kg, unchanged from the previous trading day; 6. Pulp warehouse futures warehouse receipts: 165075 tons, unchanged from the previous trading day; 7. Pulp mill warehouse futures warehouse receipts: 17000 tons, unchanged from the previous trading day; 8. Nickel futures warehouse receipts: 56690 tons, a decrease of 209 tons from the previous trading day; 9. Low-sulfur fuel oil futures warehouse receipts: 43,120 tons, unchanged from the previous trading day; 10. Natural rubber futures warehouse receipts: 125,440 tons, unchanged from the previous trading day; 11. Petroleum asphalt plant warehouse futures warehouse receipts: 57,880 tons, unchanged from the previous trading day; 12. Petroleum asphalt warehouse futures warehouse receipts: 36,100 tons, unchanged from the previous trading day; 13. Stainless steel warehouse futures warehouse receipts: 40,838 tons, unchanged from the previous trading day; 14. Zinc futures warehouse receipts: 102,509 tons, a decrease of 95 tons from the previous trading day; 15. Fuel oil futures warehouse receipts: 0 tons, unchanged from the previous trading day; 16. TSR20 rubber futures warehouse receipts: 48,082 tons, a decrease of 705 tons from the previous trading day; 17. Rebar warehouse futures warehouse receipts: 49,286 tons, an increase of 7,610 tons from the previous trading day; 18. Aluminum futures warehouse receipts totaled 403,558 tons, an increase of 10,332 tons from the previous trading day; 19. Alumina futures warehouse receipts totaled 400,603 tons, an increase of 8,686 tons from the previous trading day; 20. Silver futures warehouse receipts totaled 362,495 kg, a decrease of 2,370 kg from the previous trading day; 21. Copper futures warehouse receipts totaled 287,852 tons, a decrease of 18,528 tons from the previous trading day; 22. Hot-rolled coil futures warehouse receipts totaled 522,795 tons, an increase of 48,799 tons from the previous trading day; 23. Butadiene rubber futures warehouse receipts totaled 47,280 tons, a decrease of 340 tons from the previous trading day.

The onshore yuan closed at 6.8817 against the US dollar at 16:30 on March 20, up 196 points from the previous trading day.

On March 20th, Alimama officially launched the "AI Wanxiang" super business intelligence engine, driving real-time collaborative work among multiple intelligent agents to reconstruct a new business paradigm: merchants only need to input instructions, and "AI Wanxiang" will immediately call upon multiple intelligent agents to execute business tasks in real time. Behind "AI Wanxiang" are four core agents: Wanxiang Intelligence, Wanxiang Smart Products, Wanxiang Smart Manufacturing, and Wanxiang Smart Investment. These capabilities are being fully integrated into Alimama's Bailing, Wanxiang Platform AI Wujie, and UD Smart Investment products. Furthermore, Alimama is increasing its investment in the distribution of "Wujie Smart Coupons," using "AI Wanxiang" to drive precise conversion of marketing objectives.

According to Iranian media reports on the 20th, the Iranian armed forces launched a new round of missile and drone attacks on Israeli targets and US military bases in Saudi Arabia that day.

NIO (09866.HK): On March 20, NIO delivered its 80,000th ES8 in Hangzhou. Since deliveries began on September 21, 2025, the new ES8 has reached the milestone of 80,000 deliveries in less than six months.

On Friday, March 20, the Hang Seng Index closed down 223.26 points, or 0.88%, at 25,277.32; the Hang Seng Tech Index closed down 123.9 points, or 2.48%, at 4,872.38; the H-share Index closed down 121.81 points, or 1.4%, at 8,574.07; and the Red Chip Index closed up 6.01 points, or 0.14%, at 4,246.33.

British two-year government bonds opened flat today after a sharp drop on Thursday, underperforming German bonds.

According to data from the Statistics and Census Service of the Macao SAR Government, on March 20, 2026, benefiting from the Lunar New Year holiday, the number of inbound tourists in February 2026 increased by 32.6% year-on-year to 4,172,940. Same-day visitors (2,676,431) and overnight visitors (1,496,509) increased by 41.8% and 18.8% year-on-year respectively. The average length of stay for tourists (0.9 days) decreased by 0.2 days year-on-year, with the average length of stay for overnight visitors (2.1 days) decreasing by 0.1 days.

On March 20, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian held a regular press conference. A reporter asked: China just announced that Vice President Han Zheng is visiting Kenya, South Africa, and Seychelles. Could the spokesperson please introduce the background, activities, and China's expectations for this visit? Lin Jian stated that 2026 marks the start of China's 15th Five-Year Plan, the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Africa, and the "China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges." This visit is an important high-level exchange between China and African countries. During the visit, Vice President Han Zheng will exchange in-depth views with all parties on bilateral relations and issues of common concern. In South Africa, Vice President Han Zheng will co-chair the ninth plenary meeting of the China-South Africa Bilateral Committee with Vice President Machatille. China hopes that this visit will further align the 15th Five-Year Plan with the development strategies of the three countries, strengthen political mutual trust, expand pragmatic cooperation in various fields, and promote the building of an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era.

Supermicro (SMCI.O) shares fell more than 20% in pre-market trading.