Daily Buzz: 8 July 2026

US, Iran Exchange Attacks in Latest Hormuz Flareup, Oil Prices Rise

In yet another breach of their June 17 interim peace agreement, the US launched attacks on Iran after Iran struck three merchant ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Washington also revoked its authorization for Tehran to resume sales of its oil. A liquefied natural gas carrier, an oil supertanker and an unspecified third tanker came under attack, according to the Joint Maritime Information , which raised its threat level in the waterway to "severe." Both sides traded similar blows last month as Iran tries to maintain its control over shipping through the strait and the US tries to reopen it with unfettered access.

The attacks came amid Iran's elaborate multiday funeral ceremonies for supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed by US and Israeli forces on the first day of the war. They also occurred as NATO leaders were gathering for a summit in Turkey, where steps to fully reopening the strait are on the agenda.

Global prices rose on the latest skirmishes. Benchmark Brent crude futures closed New York trading at US$74.16 a barrel, up about 5 percent.

Shanghai to Host Global Conference on AI

The 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference opens in Shanghai on July 17, with 1,100 companies set to showcase over 3,000 exhibits, including more than 300 global product debuts.

Huawei Technologies will showcase its AI data center infrastructure platform Atlas 950 Super Node at the event, while AI startup MiniMax will debut its M3 multimodal large language model. Conference organizers said the event will also feature the world's first AI agent smartphone, along with a range of humanoid robots. Nine winners of Turing Awards and Nobel Prizes will be among attendees.

Speaking ahead of the conference, an official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology told a press briefing that China's production of humanoid robots is expected to exceed 100,000 units this year, and the country's evolving AI development will continue to power the world's biggest maker of robots. Revenue in the industry in the first five months of this year rose 27 percent from a year earlier to 90 billion yuan (US$13 billion).

NATO Summit in Turkey Beset by Familiar US Grievances

US President Donald Trump arrived in Turkey for the NATO summit with a familiar list of grievances in tow: Europe isn't paying enough for its own defense, NATO allies didn't join the US in its war against Iran, and Greenland should be annexed by the US. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is hosting the event, is seeking Trump's approval to purchase F-35 stealth fighter jets; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is not at the summit, sharply rebuked any sale. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a speech to NATO leaders, appealed for more air defense systems as Russian forces launched another wave of done and missile attacks on his country. He is due to meet Trump today.

Top Business

Samsung Electronics Announces 19-Fold Surge in Q2 Profit

South Korean chipmaking giant Samsung Electronics released a preliminary earnings report for the second quarter showing a 19-fold increase in operating profit to 89.4 trillion won (US$58.4 billion), its third consecutive record quarterly profit. Revenue in the April-June period surged 129 percent to 171 trillion won from a year earlier on soaring chip prices amid global supply shortages. The profit figure excludes one-time expenses related to employee bonuses granted in recent labor negotiations to end a strike threat. The company will release full final results, including business segment breakdowns for the quarter, later this month, The earnings beat forecasts but failed to assuage lingering fears among investors that the AI boom may stall. Samsung shares in Seoul fell 6.5 percent.

Tencent Releases Hy3 Upgraded AI Agent

Tech giant Tencent's officially released the Hunyuan 3, a reasoning and agent model with great cost efficiency, and will deploy it across products and services, including WorkBuddy/CodeBuddy, Yuanbao, Marvis and Ima. The latest version offers upgrades complex reasoning, long-context understanding and agent capabilities. Since the Hy3 preview was launched in April, average daily token usage has surged 20-fold. Hy3 is now available under the Apache 2.0 license on open-source communities, including GitHub, Hugging Face, ModelScope and AtomGit. It's priced at 1 yuan (15 US cents) per million input tokens and 4 yuan per million output tokens.

Meta Faces Unprecedented Fines in Another Child-Addiction Case

US tech giant Meta, which operates Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is facing a lawsuit brought by four US states seeking aggregate fines as high as US$1.4 trillion over platform designs alleged to addict young users, court documents show. The case, jointly filed by California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey, goes to trial in California on August 18. Meta has denied the allegations. If full penalties sought were granted by the court, they would be unprecedented in US consumer protection law. Meta and other social media platforms have been hit by a series of similar lawsuits, alleging they haven't taken sufficient steps to protect young online users from addiction and exploitation. A jury in New Mexico in March found Meta guilty of violating the state's consumer protection law and ordered the company to pay US$375 million. Meta is appealing that decision.

Economy & Markets

World Bank Keeps 4.4 Percent 2026 Growth Forecast for China

The World Bank, in a report released on Tuesday, maintained its forecast of 4.4 percent growth this year in China. Growth is predicted to soften to 4.3 percent next year, as progress in shifting the economy to consumption remains gradual, the bank said. The Chinese government has a 2026 growth target of between 4.5 percent and 5 percent.

China's Foreign-Exchange Reserves Down 0.75 Percent in June

China's foreign-exchange reserves in June dropped 0.75 percent from May to US$3.42 trillion, snapping two months of gains amid a strong US dollar. Gold holdings, part of the reserves, rose to 75.4 million ounces from 74.96 million at the end of May. A combination of factors, including currency conversions and asset price changes affected the value of reserves, said the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

Corporate

China Southern Plans US$2.2 Billion Share Placement

China Southern Airline announced plans to raise 15 billion yuan (US$2.2 billion) in a private share placement. The carrier said proceeds from the sale will be used to acquire 46 aircraft, including12 domestically manufactured C19s, and to reduce debt.

DeepSeek Said to Be Developing Its Own AI Chip

Chinese startup DeepSeek is developing its own AI chip, Reuters reported, citing three people familiar with the matter. The move could reduce the company's reliance on Nvidia and Huawei chips, which it used to train and run its large language models. DeepSeek rose to global prominence more than a year ago after releasing two highly efficient AI models ⁠that were much cheaper to develop and operate than Western models.

Conba Pharma Signs Deal for Rights to US-Developed Painkiller

Hangzhou-based Conba Pharmaceutical signed a deal with Adneuris Therapeutics, a unit of Tris Pharma, for the exclusive rights to the US company's experimental analgesic drug in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macao. Under the agreement, Conba will pay Adneuris as much as US$111.5 million for the rights to the oral painkiller now under development. The drug has completed Phase III clinical trials and is expected to seek approval from the US Food and Drug Administration later this year.

Ronbay Flags Return to Profit in First Half

Ningbo-based Ronbay New Energy Technology, a Chinese maker of lithium battery cathode materials, signaled a return to profit for the first half, citing improved conditions across the new energy vehicle sector. The company forecast net profit as high as 120 million yuan (US$17.7 million) in the six months ended June 30, turning from a loss of 68.4 million yuan a year earlier.

Muyuan Reports Drop in Hog Sales, Prices for June

Nanyang-based Muyuan, the world's biggest pig breeder and a leading Chinese mainland pork producer, said it sold about 6.2 million of finished, or fattened-for-market, hogs in June, an 11 percent decrease from a year earlier. Sales revenue fell 41 percent to 7.5 billion yuan (US$1.1 billion) as the average selling price dropped 31 percent. Subsidiary Muyuan Meat slaughtered nearly 3 million hogs in the month, the Hong Kong-listed company reported.

Nio Begins Delivery of ES9 SUVs

Chinese auto startup Nio announced deliveries to buyers of its ES9 six-seat aisle SUV have begun. The full vehicle purchase price for the electric vehicle ranges from 498,000 yuan (US$73,260) to 628,000 yuan, while the battery-rental model is priced between 390,000 yuan and 520,000 yuan.