Daily Buzz: 19 May 2026

Top News

US Aborts Resumption of Attacks on Iran, for Now

US President Donald Trump said he aborted a plan to resume attacks on Iran today after leaders from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates implored him to "hold off." Trump has indicated he was considering breaking the more than one-month ceasefire with Iran because he had run out of patience over stalemated efforts to end the war. He claimed the regional leaders asked for the postponement because of "serious negotiations now taking place." Trump said a deal will end Iran's nuclear weapons program. He also said the US military stands ready to launch a "large-scale assault" if a deal is not reached quickly. Iranian President admitted the country "faces serious challenges" but the nation's foreign ministry maintained a bullish tone.

Bond Markets Balk at Iran War

US President Donald Trump faces pushback to the Iran war not only from a majority of the American public but also from bond markets, where concerns about the conflict's inflationary impact are driving up yields. Higher interest rates increase the cost of borrowing for the government, companies and consumers, including mortgages. The yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond is trading near 15-month highs, and the 30-year bond is near its highest level in a year. High yields in the US and elsewhere are taking some of the shine off global stock market rallies. While higher rates haven't fully rippled through to the economy, consumer and companies are already grappling with higher oil prices triggered by the war. Benchmark Brent crude oil futures traded just below US$110 a barrel in New York on Monday.

Courtroom Battle of Tech Titans Goes Against Musk

Tesla and SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk lost a high-profile lawsuit against OpenAI head Sam Altman in a unanimous verdict by a California court. Musk said he will appeal. Musk, who invested US$38 million in the initial creation of ChatGPT, claims Altman reneged on an agreement to keep the company nonprofit. The jury found that Musk waited too long to file his suit, leaving all his claims essentially expired.

Top Business

Baidu's AI Business Becomes Chief Revenue Source for First Time

Baidu, China's largest search engine, a robotaxi developer and a heavyweight in AI development, said its artificial intelligence businesses became the primary driver of revenue for the first time in the first quarter, despite a 2 percent dip in overall revenue to 32.1 billion yuan (US$4.7 billion). Profit in the quarter total 3.4 billion yuan. Revenue from the company's AI-related businesses, including AI cloud, AI applications and AI marketing services, surged 49 percent from a year earlier to 13.6 billion yuan, accounting for 52 percent of general business earnings. Revenue from online marketing services dropped 22 percent. The company reported spending 4.4 billion yuan on research and development. Baidu's autonomous driving unit Apollo Go delivered 3.2 million fully driverless operational rides in the first quarter. Cumulative rides provided to the public by Apollo Go exceeded 22 million as of April, the company said.

Sohu Turns to Loss in First Quarter

Nasdaq-listed Chinese internet company Sohu said it turned to a net loss of US$4 million in the first quarter from a year earlier profit of US$182 million. Revenue rose 4 percent to US$141 million. Online game revenue rose 6 percent to US$125 million, but its social media platform recorded a flat loss of US$17 million.

Chinese Chip Maker CXMT Predicts Revenue Surge in IPO Prospectus

Changxin Memory Technologies (CXMT), the world's fourth-largest maker of dynamic random-access memory chips, forecasts first-half revenue to rise up to 120 billion yuan (US$17.6 billion), according to an updated prospectus for an initial public offering on Shanghai's tech-focused STAR market. It cited surging prices for DRAM chips used in AI applications. The Hefei-based company will reportedly aim to raise 29.5 billion yuan (US$4.3 billion) in the IPO, which would make it one of the Chinese mainland's biggest ever share sales. The company said net profit attributable to shareholders in the first six months of this year is expected to climb up to 57 billion yuan. In the first quarter, CXMT's revenue jumped more than sevenfold from a year earlier to 50.8 billion yuan, turning the company to net profit of 25 billion yuan from a year earlier loss of 1.6 billion yuan.

China, Japan Reduce Holdings of US Treasuries

China and Japan led declines in foreign holdings of US Treasury bonds in March, according to new data from Washington. Overall holdings in the month fell 1.5 percent to US$9.34 trillion from a record in February but were up 3 percent from a year earlier. China's holding, the third-largest in the world, dropped 6 percent from February to US$652.3 billion, while Japan fell 4 percent to US$1.19 trillion.

Ryanair Prepares for the Worst, Hopes for the Best

Irish budget carrier Ryanair has prepared for an "Armageddon situation" caused by the global jet fuel crisis but isn't overly worried it will eventuate, Chief Financial Officer Neil Sorahan told CNBC. He predicted, however, that weaker airlines may not survive this year. Sorahan said Ryanair is keeping to a full summer schedule, helped by hedged fuel prices. Jet fuel costs have surged more than 50 percent since the Iran war closed the Strait of Hormuz, a major transit waterway for Persian Gulf oil. "I think prices will remain higher for longer," Sorahan said.

Economy & Markets

China's Economic Growth Indicators Slow in April

China's economy slowed its pace of growth in April. Retail sales in April edged up 0.2 percent from a year earlier after a 1.7 percent gain in March, and industrial production rose 4.1 percent, decelerating from 5.7 percent growth a month earlier. Urban fixed-asset investment, including real estate and infrastructure, contracted 1.6 percent in the first four months from the same period a year ago, the National Bureau of Statistics reported. All three sets of data fell short of market forecasts, with analysts saying robust export growth this year wasn't strong enough to counter effects of the Iran war on the energy and commodity prices, and the overall economy. Retail sales of consumer goods in the first four months of the year rose 1.9 percent. Domestic car sales reported earlier dropped 22 percent in April from a year earlier, marking the seventh straight month of decline. In the latest data, the urban unemployment rate edged down to 5.2 percent from 5.4 percent in March.

Declines in China's New Home Prices Ease

Chinese new home prices in April declined at the slowest monthly pace in a year, signaling efforts to stabilize a market in crisis for almost five years may be taking hold. Prices slid 0.1 percent from March after a 0.2 drop in March, Reuters reported, citing calculations on National Bureau of Statistics data. However, from a year earlier, prices fell 3.5 percent, their steepest drop in 11 months. "The property market has not yet bottomed out," Morningstar analyst Jeff Zhang told Reuters. "Sector indicators are likely to remain weak in the coming months, although sales and prices in higher-tier cities could stabilize."

The slower monthly decline reflected slightly higher prices in China's biggest cities, with Shanghai leading with a 0.1 percent gain. Prices in smaller cities fell up to 0.3 percent. In the existing home market, prices rose marginally from a month earlier but were down from a year earlier. Investment in property in the first four months of the year fell 13.7 percent from a year earlier. China's property market, both residential and commercial, has been in a slump since 2021, when a liquidity crunch led to defaults by some real estate developers. Central and local governments have been seeking to stabilize the market by reducing industry inventory overhang and offering home-buying incentives.

Semight Instruments Takes China Stock Market Crown

Suzhou-based Semight, a chip-testing equipment manufacturer, became the priciest stock on mainland exchanges on Monday, overtaking premium liquor maker Kweichow Moutai. Semight listed on Shanghai's tech-focused STAR market 25 days ago. It closed the day up 15 percent at 1,344.99 yuan (US$185.80) a share, giving it a market capitalization of 138.1 billion yuan. The share price surge came after the company reported a 142.5 percent first quarter surge in revenue from a year earlier to 488 million yuan and a 515 percent jump in net profit.

Foreign Holdings of Chinese Mainland Shares Rise

The market value of Chinese mainland shares held by foreign institutions increased by 67.5 billion yuan (US$9.9 billion) in the first quarter, with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority ranking first, Yicai reported, citing Wind Information. Offshore investors were among the top 10 shareholders of 1,521 Chinese mainland stocks in the three months, holding shares valued at 195.1 billion yuan. Among individual shares, BOE Technology ranked first in foreign favor, followed by TCL Technology, Zijin Mining and Southwest Pharmaceutical.

Corporate

Luckin Coffee Debut Drinks with Alcoholic 'Buzz'

Luckin Coffee, China's largest café chain, launched two specialty alcoholic drinks at some of its outlets across China, seeking to get a leg up on fierce domestic competition. The new "slight buzz" drink tastes like fruity coffee beverages with a mild alcoholic aftertaste. They contain 15 milliliters of gin and whiskey, with alcohol content at about 0.5 percent. Luckin piloted a variety of alcohol-infused new drinks at selected sites in Shenzhen and Shanghai earlier this year.

CICC to Acquire Dongxing and Cinda Securities in Share Swap

China International Capital Corp (CICC), one of the country's leading brokerages, announced plans to acquire two smaller securities, Dongxing and Cinda in a share swap deal. Under the merger, CICC will issue new shares to shareholders of both firms in exchange for their holdings. Based on figures at the end of last year, CICC's total assets will increase to 1.03 trillion yuan (US$151.4 billion) from 782.8 billion yuan. China's brokerage industry is in a phase of consolidation.

Three China Tech Companies Begin HK IPO Sales

China's Viewtrix Technology, DeepZero Technology and SDMC Technology have announced share sales for listing on Hong Kong's exchange on May 27. Shenzhen-based Viewtrix, a design and seller of integrated circuits in the display field, said it aims to raise nearly HK$1.1 billion (US$140.5 million) through the sale of 52.9 million shares. Beijing-based AI company DeepZero is seeking to raise HK$500 with the sale of 9 million shares. And Shenzhen-based SDMC Technology, a smart home product provider, plans to raise HK$630 million with 19 million shares on offer. The three companies all reported initial over-subscriptions.

Shanghai Telecom Launches AI Token Packages

Shanghai Telecom has launched China's first token computing power service integrated directly into mobile phone bills. Under the pay-as-you-go model, users can purchase 250,000 AI computing credits for just 1 yuan (14 US cents) and integrate over 30 mainstream Chinese large language models directly in their own software. A 10-yuan purchase provides 2.5 million credits -- enough computing power to automatically summarize roughly 100 e-books of 100,000 words each.

Shein Reportedly Buying US Apparel Retailer Everlane

Chinese discount fashion online platform Shein is acquiring US-based apparel retailer Everlane from its majority owner, private equity firm L Catterton, in a deal valuing Everlane at about US$100 million, Reuters reported, citing Puck News.

XPeng Rolls Out its First Mass-Produced Robotaxi

Chinese electric vehicle maker XPeng announced the official rollout of its first mass-produced robotaxi in the southern city of Guangzhou. Built on the Xpeng GX platform, the self-driving vehicle is China's first production-ready, pre-assembled robotaxi model developed entirely with in-house technologies and engineered to Level 4 autonomous driving standards.

Dassault Plans to Strengthen Position in China's AI System

French industrial software company Dassault Systems said it plans to strengthen its position in China's AI ecosystem. Chief Executive Pascal Daloz told China Daily, "We are not in China simply to serve the local market. We are here because China has become one of the places where innovation is moving fastest. For global companies, being part of this ecosystem is essential to staying competitive."

BluePai Augments Exports of Bikes with Overseas Services

BluePai, an arm of rental bike firm Hello, is enhancing vehicle exports with service-oriented overseas support to global partners. The company recently showcased its products at the China International Bicycle Fair, attracting potential clients from 37 countries, according to the company. The Chinese industry comprises 90 percent of the global supply chain, according to the company, but overseas expansion still faces challenges including policy compliance, product adaptation, maintenance costs and local market penetration.