On August 12, the Central Bank released the 2026 second quarter report on China's monetary policy implementation. The report stated that moving forward, the People's Bank of China will continue to steadily and orderly promote the reform and improvement of the monetary policy operation framework. It will flexibly and accurately carry out various operations, maintain the total liquidity at an appropriate level, and better guide the stable operation of short-term interest rates in the money market. In response to the needs of primary dealers, the frequency of overnight reverse repo operations will be gradually increased to further enhance the transmission of policy rates to market rates.

On August 12, according to Reuters, a senior Iranian source stated: "There are currently no discussions between Iran and the United States regarding the extension of the ceasefire. From Iran's perspective, the ceasefire does not have an effective date, so there is no need for an extension. The United States violated the temporary agreement 48 hours after it was reached and withdrew from the agreement a few days later. One of the issues currently being discussed is the U.S. return to the memorandum of understanding and determining a timeline for the U.S. to fulfill its commitments, but there has been no progress on this issue so far." (Jinshi)

On August 12, the People's Bank of China released the 2026 second quarter report on the implementation of China's monetary policy. The report states that social financing scale and broad money M2 are macro financial aggregate indicators with a wide coverage. These two indicators approach the financial and real economy, as well as assets and liabilities, from different perspectives, encompassing a diverse range of financing channels and providing a comprehensive view of financial aggregates. It is also necessary to objectively and scientifically assess their trends. Mathematically, as bond financing increases, the growth rates of M2 or deposits may naturally differ from those of loans, which does not indicate insufficient financial support for the real economy or idle capital. Compared to the growth rate of nominal GDP, the current growth rates of social financing and M2 still exceed that of nominal GDP, indicating a relatively loose monetary financial environment.

On August 12, the Central Bank released the 2026 second quarter report on the implementation of China's monetary policy. The People's Bank of China will timely plan and implement practical incremental policies, enhance counter-cyclical regulation, and strengthen the expansion of domestic demand and optimization of supply to promote sustained and improved economic development. It will steadfastly follow the path of financial development with Chinese characteristics, further deepen financial reform and high-level opening-up, accelerate the construction of a strong financial nation, improve the central banking system, and build a scientific and robust monetary policy system along with a comprehensive macro-prudential management system, ensuring smooth transmission of monetary policy mechanisms. (Jin Shi)

U.S. stock index futures have risen short-term, with Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.7%. U.S. Treasury bonds have increased, and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note has fallen by 3 basis points to 4.66%.

On August 12, Musk stated in his latest remarks that AI revenue will surpass all other business revenues of SpaceX by September, and he predicts that within five years, AI will account for 99% of SpaceX's valuation. Musk mentioned that SpaceX has established 'the world's most powerful AI training cluster' and plans to increase its current computing power by about tenfold by the end of next year, targeting 10 gigawatts, which corresponds to a potential annual revenue of $300 billion to $500 billion. He also anticipates that Starlink could handle over 90% of global internet traffic in the future.

WTI crude oil has decreased by 1.00% today, currently priced at $81.37 per barrel.

South Korea will require new investors in single leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to complete simulation trading exercises, further tightening regulatory measures on this high-risk product that exacerbates market volatility. The Financial Services Commission of South Korea announced that new investors must complete at least five days of simulation trading, totaling at least five hours, before purchasing single leveraged ETFs. The new regulation will take effect on August 19 and applies to both domestic and overseas investments.

On August 12, the yen suddenly strengthened, causing major non-USD currencies to collectively drop sharply against the yen. The British pound against the yen fell nearly 80 points in a short time, the euro against the yen (EUR/JPY) dropped over 60 points, the Swiss franc against the yen fell nearly 60 points, the Canadian dollar against the yen decreased by nearly 50 points, and the Australian dollar against the yen dropped nearly 40 points.

On August 12, according to disclosures from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, H&H International Investment, LLC, managed by Duan Yongping, increased its stake in Pop Mart (09992.HK) from 5.55% to 7.70% as of August 6. (Jin Shi)