πŸ“Š Market Snapshot

  • Gold XAUUSD: $4,335.70 ↓0.35% (range $4,310.94 - $4,364.13)
  • WTI Crude USOIL: $81.41 ↑1.21% (range $79.92 - $81.42)
  • Brent Crude: $86.72 ↑1.00%
  • Nikkei 225: 68,713.80 ↑0.59% (close)
  • Korea KOSPI: 6,977.34 ↑2.41% (close), +11.5% for the week, breaking 7-week losing streak
  • Australia ASX200: 9,105.00 ↓0.91% (close)
  • A-Shares: Shanghai Composite turned green in afternoon; ChiNext up >1%; turnover exceeded 2T yuan for 9th consecutive day
  • European Futures: Euro Stoxx 50 +0.26%, DAX +0.42%, CAC40 +0.05%, FTSE100 +0.32%

πŸ”₯ Key News This Hour

1. Global Funds Accelerate Inflows into Chinese Equities In the month ending Aug 5, Chinese equity funds saw net inflows of $50.82B, accounting for nearly 60% of emerging market totals. Overseas-listed China ETFs are seeing significantly accelerated inflows as international capital positions in Chinese equities.

2. France July CPI Final In Line with Expectations France’s July CPI YoY final came in at 2.1%, MoM at 0.6%, both matching expectations and prior readings. Harmonized CPI YoY final at 2.4%, MoM at 0.6%, also in line. No new directional signals from the data.

3. US CENTCOM Denies Pushing for New Iran Strikes US Central Command spokesperson Tim Hawkins denied that military leadership is pushing for a new round of military strikes against Iran, pushing back against earlier media reports. Geopolitical tensions remain worth monitoring.

4. Oil Prices Strengthen, China Retail Fuel Prices Cut WTI rose above $81, Brent climbed to $86.72. China’s domestic retail fuel prices will be cut tonight by 230 yuan/ton for gasoline and 220 yuan/ton for diesel, marking the 5th cut this year.

5. South Korea’s KOSPI Surges 11.5% for the Week KOSPI closed up 2.41% at 6,977 on Friday, with a weekly gain of 11.5%, ending a 7-week losing streak, indicating significant oversold bounce momentum.

6. JPMorgan Raises Applied Materials Target Price JPMorgan raised Applied Materials (AMAT) target price from $515 to $660, reflecting optimism in the semiconductor equipment sector.

7. Japan’s Top FX Official to Meet Korean Counterpart on Aug 21 Japan’s Ministry of Finance announced that the top FX officials from Japan and South Korea will meet in Tokyo on Aug 21, worth watching for FX market coordination signals.

🧭 Assessment

Risk appetite continued to recover during Friday’s Asian session, with most Asia-Pacific markets closing higher, led by KOSPI.

Chinese asset attractiveness continues to rise, with foreign net inflows into Chinese equity funds exceeding $50B in the past month, combined with A-share turnover exceeding 2T yuan for 9 consecutive days, sending strong capital flow signals.

On oil, both WTI and Brent strengthened as Middle East geopolitical risks continue to simmer, though US military’s denial of pushing for new Iran strikes has somewhat eased short-term tensions.

France’s CPI final was in line, confirming stable European inflation outlook, with European equity futures opening slightly higher.

This week’s US CPI and PPI both showed cooling inflation, with market bets on a Fed September rate hike fading. However, institutions caution that the Jackson Hole symposium at end-August remains a key observation window, and PCE data (due Aug 26) will be the next important validation point.

⏰ Upcoming Key Data

  • Aug 14 (Today): Watch for Eurozone data after European market open
  • Aug 26: US July PCE Price Index (core PCE is the Fed’s most-watched inflation metric)
  • End of August: Jackson Hole Global Central Bank Symposium (key window for Fed policy signals)
  • Aug 21: Japan-South Korea top FX officials meeting in Tokyo