News

Australia's Wesfarmers: Reached an artificial intelligence partnership with Microsoft (MSFT.O).

U.S. Central Command: It is pursuing Iran's responsibility according to the commander-in-chief's instructions. Central Command troops maintain a high degree of vigilance and focus, have strong combat capabilities, and are ready to respond to various situations at any time.

U.S. Central Command: Attacked Iran’s military command centers, air defense and coastal surveillance sites, maritime combat capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and communications networks to further weaken Iran’s ability to attack merchant ships and civilian sailors passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

U.S. Central Command: As of 10 p.m. Eastern Time on July 19, it successfully completed its ninth consecutive night strike operation against Iran.

US Secretary of State Rubio: The meeting with the Lebanese president was very positive.

US Secretary of State Rubio: The United States remains open to resolving the Iranian issue through diplomatic channels.

Hong Kong star technology and Internet stocks strengthened, with Bilibili (09626.HK) rising by more than 6%, Alibaba (09988.HK) rising by more than 5%, and Kuaishou (01024.HK), Tencent Holdings (00700.HK), Xiaomi Group (01810.HK) and other stocks following suit.

The A-share oil engineering sector opened higher, directly trading the oil price risk premium caused by the obstruction of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran claims that shipping volume has dropped to zero. Although this statement still needs to be verified by more shipping data, the market has begun to reprice the energy chain based on the "risk of supply disruption." Oil services were the first to respond, and the logic was relatively straightforward: Once transportation risks in the Middle East rise, crude oil prices and energy security expectations will heat up simultaneously, and upstream exploration, oil and gas services, engineering construction and other directions will be more likely to receive funding. But if the Hormuz risk evolves from a short-term disturbance to a sustained naval blockade, The next step to be revalued may be the shipping sector. The reason is that the blockade will not only affect oil prices, but also change ship turnover efficiency, route risks and transportation costs. Oil tankers, LNG ships and related routes in the Middle East may face problems such as deviations, port congestion, waiting, and rising war insurance premiums. The actual available shipping capacity will be compressed, and freight price flexibility will be amplified. Therefore, the current market speculation on oil services is to trade "upward oil prices"; if subsequent restrictions on the strait are confirmed by shipping data, funds may further shift to shipping, resulting in "tight shipping capacity" and "freight revaluation". key observation points, It is the traffic volume of ships, the situation of LNG ship deviations, war insurance premiums and whether the freight rates on the Middle East route are rising simultaneously.

The HSI opened on July 20 (Monday), up 272.79 points, or 1.11%, to 24835.03 points;Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Technology Index opened on July 20 (Monday), up 101.62 points, or 2.2%, to 4724.79 points; The state-owned enterprise index opened on July 20 (Monday), up 116.0 points, or 1.43%, to 8252.73 points;The red chip index opened on July 20 (Monday), up 28.62 points, or 0.72%, to 3992.16 points.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards: As long as the United States continues its actions in the region, the Strait of Hormuz will not be safe, and no oil, natural gas, or petrochemical products will be able to pass safely.

Korean semiconductor stocks have fallen well beyond fundamentals, Hana Securities analyst Lee Jaeman said, adding that even after accounting for cyclical risk the recent sell-off appears excessive. He flagged upcoming earnings from US hyperscalers — Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta and Amazon — starting in late July as a potential catalyst for a rebound. Hana projects combined capex growth for those four firms to rise from 80% in Q1 2026 to 83% in Q2 and 92% in Q3, and said stronger investment demand could enable semiconductor companies to sustain high operating margins.

U.S. President Trump: Other grocery chains must immediately follow the example of truly patriotic companies like Giant Eagle and Walmart.

US President Trump: I just learned that Giant Eagle, an excellent American grocery retailer, will significantly reduce the prices of more than 300 items this summer (until Labor Day in the United States). We will continue to push prices down.

The U.S. Central Command's ninth round of non-stop strikes against the Iranian mainland shows that the ceasefire memorandum brokered by a third party two months ago has completely expired. Its tactical goals have been comprehensively expanded from the initial "targeted clearing of militia missile warehouses" to weakening Iran's coastal surveillance and air defense, damaging core logistics channels (such as the bridge in the direction of Bandar Abbas that has been damaged by US bombing), and even directly threatening the base of its nuclear facilities under construction (such as the Dalhoven Nuclear Power Plant). The US military's intention is very clear: to use absolute air supremacy to completely destroy Iran's industrial and military room for maneuver without using large-scale ground forces. also, The U.S. Central Command has guided six merchant ships to change course and disabled one merchant ship's navigation ability, which means that the naval blockade has become a reality.

Goldman Sachs: The copper market outside the United States is expected to remain tight for some time to come.

U.S. President Trump: Discussed Canada's forest fires with Canadian Prime Minister Carney.

U.S. President Trump: Maintains good relationship with Canadian Prime Minister Carney.

US President Trump: Tonight we hit Iran hard again.

S&P 500 futures rose 0.2% and Nasdaq futures rose 0.6%.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index opened 38.00 points higher, or 0.43%, at 8834.70 on Monday, July 20.