π° Hourly Briefing | 2026-08-19 10:00 CST
US bond storm spreads to Asia: South Korea's KOSPI plunged as much as 6% triggering the sidecar mechanism, Japanese chip stocks fell in tandem; Unitree surged 629.44% on its STAR Market debut as China's first humanoid-robot IPO; China's long-end bond yields spiked, sparking a precious metals selloff with Shanghai gold and silver gapping lower.
π Market Snapshot
- Gold XAUUSD: $4,356.37 β²0.51% | Range $4,324.67β$4,357.65
- WTI Oil USOIL: $84.88 β²0.68% | Range $84.23β$84.99
- A-Shares (10:00): Shanghai -0.96% open (3,952.12) | Shenzhen -2.09% | ChiNext >-3% | STAR 50 -3%
- HK (10:00): HSI -0.49% open | Hang Seng Tech -1.27% | Baidu -12%+, China Unicom -10%+ post-earnings
- Asia: KOSPI plunged as much as 6% triggering the sidecar mechanism; Japanese chip stocks joined the US-bond selloff
- CNY midpoint: 6.7854, strengthened 51 pips, highest since Feb 8, 2023
π₯ Key News This Hour
- Unitree surges 629.44% on STAR Market debut β Opened at CNY 1,100/share, market cap briefly topping CNY 440B, ranking top-10 on the STAR board; Chairman Wang Xingxing’s net worth surpassed CNY 100B, making him the richest post-90s founder. Lei Jun’s subscription gained CNY 15.2B; Liang Wenfeng’s firms gained CNY 1.1B. Meanwhile A-share humanoid-robot names fell, with multiple robot ETFs down over 5%.
- US bond storm spreads to Asia β After US tech’s overnight rout, Japan and Korea followed lower: KOSPI plunged as much as 6% triggering the sidecar mechanism, Japanese chip stocks caught up in the yield-driven selloff; global bond selling persists.
- China long-end yield spike sparks precious metals selloff β Shanghai silver, gold, platinum and palladium futures gapped lower on surging long-end bond yields, though spot gold held above $4,350.
- Iraq approves emergency oil export mechanism β Cabinet greenlit rules to open diversified export routes via Turkey and Syria starting September, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz “chokepoint”; oil rose anyway, with geopolitical premium intact.
- Earnings diverging β Xiaomi +5%+ (Q2 revenue CNY 108.9B, adj. net profit CNY 6.22B); Baidu -12%+, China Unicom -10%+ (H1 net profit -34.6% YoY), Hesai -7%+ post-earnings.
- Zhuque-3 rocket achieves land recovery β China’s first launch vehicle to orbit and land vertically; commercial-space ETFs opened higher, Goldwind hit limit-up.
- YMTC (Yangtze Memory) IPO coaching upgraded to “acceptance review” β Underwriters CITIC Securities and CITIC Construction Investment; IPO progress advances.
π§ Read on the Market
The day’s theme is the “US bond storm” spreading globally: after US tech’s rout, Japan and Korea fell in tandem, with KOSPI plunging 6% and triggering the sidecar mechanism.
The 4.75% 10-year US yield keeps pressuring high-valuation assets, and Asia-Pacific chip names are the latest to take the hit.
Notably, despite precious metals being sold off on the long-end yield spike, spot gold held above $4,350, suggesting geopolitical hedging demand remains supportive.
Iraq’s plan to bypass Hormuz is more “expectation management” for now; the near-term oil floor is still set by the US-Iran standoff and Iran’s blockade stance.
Tonight’s EIA crude inventory print (prior week added a large 17.42M barrels) is the key data point, with elevated risk of oil and rates moving in the same direction.
β° Upcoming Key Data
- 14:00 UK July CPI (exp. +2.9% YoY) / RPI
- 15:20 Bank Indonesia 7-day reverse repo decision
- 16:00 Eurozone June current account (sa)
- 17:00 Eurozone July CPI final (exp. +2.9% YoY)
- 19:00 US MBA mortgage applications
- 22:30 US EIA crude inventories (prior +17.42M bbl) β οΈ