On July 30, the Bank of England's baseline forecast showed that as the energy price shock gradually transmits to the broader economy, the UK's annual inflation rate will remain above the 2% inflation target until the fourth quarter of 2027. In a more moderate scenario, the Bank of England expects inflation to fall below the 2% target in the third quarter of next year. However, in a more adverse scenario, the Bank of England's model indicates that inflation could rise above 4% early next year and stay above 2% until 2029. The latest UK data shows that last month, the annual inflation rate fell to 2.6%, a larger decline than market expectations.

July 30 news: A report from JPMorgan's Global Market Intelligence team indicates that its U.S. Tactical Positioning Monitor has triggered a buy signal for the S&P 500 index, as current U.S. stock positioning has fallen to levels that offer contrarian value. Historical data shows that after similar positioning shifts, the S&P 500 has averaged a gain of approximately 3% over the next 20 trading days. The report suggests that falling Treasury yields, a weaker dollar, solid corporate earnings, easing tensions in the Middle East, and the Federal Reserve's expected decision to maintain interest rates will collectively support near-term U.S. stock performance. However, the report also warns that overcrowded semiconductor positions and the U.S.-Iran situation remain key risk factors. (Bloomberg)

On July 30, according to CCTV Finance, after the U.S. stock market closed on the 29th local time, Meta disclosed its second-quarter earnings report for 2026. Although quarterly revenue slightly exceeded expectations, net profit fell by 14%, and the massive AI capital expenditure squeezed cash flow, causing the company's stock price to drop over 8% in after-hours trading. In the earnings report, Meta adjusted its full-year capital expenditure forecast range to $130 billion to $145 billion, compared to the previous forecast of $125 billion to $145 billion. The sharp increase in AI capital expenditure has hurt the company's profitability and severely squeezed cash flow. Meta's free cash flow in the second quarter fell to its lowest level in nearly four years, reaching only $784 million. Facing market concerns, Meta CEO Zuckerberg stated in the earnings conference call on the 29th that the company's current massive investment is aimed at seizing the AI infrastructure window, and the returns will gradually materialize through multiple paths, including improvements in the core advertising business, enterprise services, and computing power leasing. When mentioning the possibility of "selling computing power," Zuckerberg said that Meta has received a large number of quotes for computing power, with prices far exceeding the company's procurement costs. However, Zuckerberg stated that merely selling computing power to obtain short-term profits is foolish, and a "significant portion" of Meta's computing power will be used to drive its own models and products.

On July 30, traders increased their bets on the Bank of England raising interest rates, with market pricing indicating a 39-basis-point hike by the end of the year.

On July 30, the Bank of England kept its policy rate unchanged at 3.75% for the fifth consecutive meeting, in line with market expectations. (Jin Shi)

On July 30, the Bank of England: The interest rate decision this time saw a vote of 6-3 to keep rates unchanged versus a hike (compared to 7-2 in the previous meeting). Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee members Greene, Mann, and Chief Economist Pill supported a rate hike. (Jin10)

On July 30, according to market sources, four former TSMC engineers—Chen Liming, Wu Bingjun, Ge Yiping, and Chen Weijie—were sentenced by the Taiwan Intellectual Property and Commercial Court in the first instance to 10 years, 3 years, 2 years, and 6 years in prison respectively for stealing and leaking confidential data including 2-nanometer process technology. Chen Liming and Chen Weijie appealed, but the Taiwan Supreme Court rejected the appeal on the 30th, and the two will be directly sent to prison. According to reports, Wu Bingjun and Ge Yiping did not appeal after the first-instance verdict, and the prosecution also did not appeal, so their sentences were finalized first. Chen Liming originally worked as a yield engineer at TSMC's Fab 12. After leaving, he moved to Tokyo Electron (Taiwan), a supplier of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to TSMC, to work in the marketing department. In an effort to perform well and secure more equipment supply positions for Tokyo Electron in TSMC's advanced process nodes, he repeatedly leveraged his former colleague relationships with Wu, Ge, and Chen, asking them to photograph TSMC's confidential files. The four engineers used the work laptops of the still-employed involved engineers to open confidential files for Chen Liming to photograph, or they photographed and transmitted the files to Chen Liming.

On July 30, SK Hynix ADR rose over 1% in pre-market trading, after previously falling nearly 5%. On the news front, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won purchased 3,620 shares of SK Hynix. Based on today's closing price of SK Hynix's Korean stock at 1,322,000 won (approximately $922.8), the total amount is about 4.8 billion won (approximately $3.34 million).

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps: Attacked a US military base in Jordan on Thursday morning local time. (Jin10)

On July 30, Meta stated that it holds a 20% stake in the Louisiana data center project. Meta Platforms: In the three months ended June 30, employee compensation expenses included $1.18 billion in severance costs related to the layoff action in May 2026. (Jin Shi)