Real-time News

On June 29, the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs jointly issued the "Action Plan for Promoting the Reform and Upgrading of Rural Bookstores and Enhancing Rural Reading." The plan outlines key tasks focusing on adapting to local conditions to improve the layout and structure, optimizing content supply based on needs, innovating forms to cultivate a reading culture, and improving mechanisms to solidify the supporting foundation. It emphasizes promoting the "bookstore+" model, flexibly advancing the integration of "+bookstore," strengthening digital services, cultivating distinctive brands, encouraging social participation, and enhancing publicity and promotion to improve the functions of rural bookstores and enhance the effectiveness of rural reading services.

The SC crude oil futures contract fell 2.00% during the day, currently trading at 462.10 yuan per barrel.

On June 29th, Citi reported that Apple has expressed interest in Changxin Memory Technologies Co., Ltd.'s (CMT) memory chips. This endorsement would transform CMT from a "Chinese domestic substitution story" into a "credible fourth-largest DRAM manufacturer globally." The news is expected to benefit CMT and its supply chain, including equipment suppliers and OSAT (Outsourced Equipment and Materials Testing) vendors.

The yield on Japan's 30-year government bonds rose 5 basis points to 3.845%.

Gold prices fell in early Asian trading on June 29. Kieran Tompkins, an analyst at Capital Economics, noted in a report that deteriorating risk appetite for artificial intelligence-related assets has impacted commodities, including gold, which was one of the hardest hit last week. He stated that the "golden metal," traditionally considered a safe-haven asset, is increasingly behaving like a risk asset, pointing to the sharp price fluctuations in the fourth quarter of last year due to extreme speculation. He also noted that the precious metal performed poorly during the US-Iran conflict. The economist expects gold prices to come under further pressure as speculative fervor cools and the stock market weakens. He pointed out that gold's correlation with the benchmark S&P 500 index is currently at its highest level in about 14 years.

On June 29th, Kaisa Capital announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Eyu Asia Pacific Limited, recently entered into a strategic cooperation agreement with a technology company. This partner is a leading global AI computing power provider, focusing on pioneering domestically developed AI chip technology and committed to providing a new generation of AI computing platforms with high performance, low latency, and high cost-effectiveness. Both parties will integrate their respective core strengths to jointly expand the practical application of domestically developed AI chips, computing power products, and supporting solutions in diverse industrial scenarios both domestically and internationally.

As of 8:30 AM Beijing time, spot platinum was down 0.79% and spot palladium was down 0.11%.

On June 29, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) released a public consultation proposal to amend the credit risk capital requirements for banks. The aim is to increase credit supply to support the economy while maintaining the soundness of the financial system. While maintaining the "unquestionably strong" banking system, APRA plans to lower the standard risk weights for some corporate loans to better reflect actual risk. Key proposals include: lowering the risk weights for large domestic public infrastructure loans; lowering the risk weights for high-quality unrated corporate loans that meet certain criteria; and adjusting the standards for land acquisition, development, and construction (ADC) loans to allow more residential development projects to apply the lower 100% risk weight. APRA plans to finalize the proposal in the second half of 2026 and implement it on April 1, 2027.

According to the network monitoring website DownDetector, users have reported that Apple Maps and Google Maps are experiencing outages.

June 29th - Japanese retail sales rose for the third consecutive month in May, primarily driven by wage increases and government subsidies easing the cost of living. Data released Monday showed that retail sales rose 1.9% month-on-month in May, and 5.3% compared to the same period last year. Despite growing concerns about the ongoing impact of the war in Iran on prices, the data showed that consumer demand remained strong as wage increases have consistently outpaced inflation. Furthermore, government subsidies provided by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi are helping households save money so they can continue spending.

WTI crude oil fell more than 1.00% intraday, currently trading at $69.37 per barrel.

On June 29, Tuhu (09690.HK) announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it has confidentially submitted a draft F-1 registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the proposed initial public offering and listing of American Depositary Shares representing the company's Class A ordinary shares in the United States, and has filed with the relevant Chinese regulatory authorities in accordance with applicable Chinese laws and regulations regarding the proposed overseas offering and listing.

The yield on Japan's 20-year government bonds rose 4.0 basis points to 3.550%.

1. Musk announced that Grok 4.5 is in internal testing and its performance may surpass Anthropic's Opus. 2. US media: Zhipu GLM-5.2 is comparable to Mythos in vulnerability finding. 3. South Korean media: Samsung and SK Group are expected to announce an investment plan of up to 2,000 trillion won. 4. Momenta plans to issue 19.93 million shares in its Hong Kong listing, with an issue price of HK$295.6 per share. 5. British media: The UK is considering gradually replacing traditional destroyers to accelerate its transformation to unmanned warfare.

June 29th - According to a survey released by Invesco, concerns about the US dollar are "widespread and deepening," with 61% of surveyed central banks stating that US debt levels negatively impact the dollar's long-term status as a reserve asset, compared to 20% in 2024. While the Iran war has boosted the dollar by 3% this year, analysts say that US policy uncertainty and high debt levels suggest the dollar may weaken in the long term. Although any shift towards reducing dollar investments is likely to be gradual due to the lack of credible alternatives, the Invesco survey shows that 29% of respondents believe the dollar's reserve currency status will weaken within five years, up from 12% in 2022. Invesco also noted that several institutions have reported reassessing their reliance on US custodians, counterparties, and clearing infrastructure due to geopolitical tensions. Meanwhile, one-third of respondents indicated they intend to increase their gold holdings in response to the trend of investment diversification.

Conflict Status: 1. Zelensky: Ukraine attacked Russian oil refineries in the Krasnodar and Yaroslavl regions. 2. Russian Ministry of Defense: We shot down 590 Ukrainian drones in the past 24 hours. 3. Russia claims Ukrainian forces attacked the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant multiple times in the past 24 hours. 4. Putin: Russia recommends that both Russia and Ukraine cease striking targets deep within each other's territory. 5. Zelensky: Ukrainian Flamingo missiles attacked a weapons manufacturing plant in the Volgograd region of Russia. 6. Gazprom, the State Gas Corporation of Ukraine, claims that Russia attacked its production facilities in the Poltava and Kharkiv regions, causing damage. 7. Russian Ministry of Defense: In the past day, Russian forces continued to strike Ukrainian forces in the directions of Sumy, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhia. 8. General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces: Ukrainian forces continued long-range strikes against Russian military and energy infrastructure in the early hours of the day, targeting facilities including two oil refineries, a railway bridge, and an ammunition depot. Other developments: 1. Putin: Russia will firmly defend its fundamental interests. 2. Putin acknowledged a fuel shortage in Russia, and a complete ban on diesel exports is one of the options currently under discussion.

Japan's seasonally adjusted retail sales rose 1.9% month-on-month in May, compared with expectations of a -0.60% decline and a revised 2.10% increase in the previous month (originally 1.30%).

Japan's retail sales rose 5.3% year-on-year in May, below the expected 3.2% and the previous figure revised from 2.10% to 2.80%.

Futures News, June 29th - According to foreign media reports, Malaysian crude palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange (BMD) are likely to open higher on Monday morning, mainly reflecting the rebound in international crude oil futures following the escalation of conflict in the Middle East over the weekend. Over the weekend, a Panamanian-flagged oil tanker was attacked by an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting a new round of attacks by the US Central Command, further escalating the conflict in the Middle East. This led to a rebound in international crude oil futures during Monday's electronic trading session, which will likely boost the early performance of Malaysian crude palm oil futures. Strong Malaysian palm oil exports and Indonesia's upcoming policy of blending palm oil-based biofuels are also bullish for the palm oil market.