Daily Buzz: 9 September 2026

US Attacks Five Iran Tankers, Oil Climbs Toward US$100 a Barrel

The US said it destroyed five Iranian tankers near Kharg Island, Iran's main oil export hub, in response to a second attempted missile strike on US Navy warships. The US has been maintaining a blockade on Iran's coastline to stop oil shipments that raise revenue for Tehran. Iran vowed to retaliate by targeting oil tankers near ports in the Gulf states of Bahrain and Kuwait. Iran also said it seized a US underwater drone in the Strait of Hormuz; the U.S. military said the submersible was defective. As hostilities escalate after a one-month lull in fighting, oil prices are nudging up toward US$100 a barrel. Global benchmark Brent crude futures rose above US$99 in New York trading but ended the day at US$97.92 a barrel.

Russia, Ukraine Resume Attacks After Visit of US Peace Envoys

Russia attacked Kiev with a barrage of cruise and ballistic missiles and drones, a day after US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner visited the Ukrainian capital and Moscow, saying "substantive progress" had been achieved in kickstarting peace talks. Ukrainian officials said the strikes triggered fires across the city, with some people trapped in residential buildings. The size of the attack had neighboring Poland mobilize aircraft to protect its airspace. Russia reported a Ukrainian drone attack on the city of Saratov. Both nations had suspended attacks for 72 hours over the weekend during the envoys' visits.

UK, France, Canada Impose Trade Ban on Israeli Settlements

The UK, France and Canada launched sanctions against trading in goods and services from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including companies that supply them. The three nations, in a joint statement, said the action "marks a further turning point in our approach to protecting the two-state solution." Speaking to Parliament, UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband accused the Israeli government of turning a blind eye to the "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians by Jewish settlers. Settler attacks on Palestinians and seizure of their property have escalated in recent months as Israeli moves to build new settlements near East Jerusalem that would effectively stymie creation of a Palestinian state. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused Miliband of spreading an "outrageous lie" and announced counter-measures, including shutting the UK consulate in East Jerusalem.

OpenAI Claims Higher Math Breakthrough

OpenAI says it has solved decades-old advanced mathematics problem in a matter of hours using a new artificial intelligence model and thousands of AI bots. The problem that has stumped mathematicians is part of the so-called Navier-Stokes equations, which concern how fluids move. OpenAI called the solution a "milestone" as AI fundamentally transforms the field of higher mathematics.

Top Business

Longsys Slips in Hong Kong Debut After US$900 Million IPO

Shares in Chinese chip memory and data-storage company Longsys Electronics fell 1.1 percent from their offer price in their Hong Kong trading debut on Tuesday after a HK$7.1 billion (US$900 million) initial public offering. The Shenzhen-based company, also listed on the stock exchange in that city, makes memory and data storage products for smartphones, computers, data center, vehicles and industrial equipment. It is allocating most of the funds from the share sale to research and development in chip design and advanced memory products. The company also announced a 448-million-yuan (US$63 million) buyback of 1.25 million Shenzhen-listed shares, covering 0.29 percent of its total share capital. Longsys reported profit in the first six months jumped 260 times to 10.7 billion yuan on a 136 percent surge in revenue to 24 billion yuan.

Trump Administration Tells Ford to Cut Ties With Chinese Companies

The Trump administration on Tuesday condemned Ford Motor's business partnerships with Chinese companies, saying they pose national security concerns. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, in a letter to Ford Chief Executive Jim Farley, said the automaker's dealings with Chinese battery maker CATL and Chinese automakers Geely and BYD raise "profound concern." He urged Ford to cut those ties. He also criticized the company's decision not to move production of the Lincoln Nautilus from China to the US until 2030. Ford, in a statement, said Duffy's letter is a "wrongheaded attempt to capture headlines."

Jefferies Sees Less Risk in China Amid Global AI Spending Splurge

The brokerage arm of US investment bank Jefferies said in a new report that capital spending by China's cloud service providers doubled in the second quarter but has increased only 30 percent over the last four quarters, compared with 76 percent for US rivals. The broker said capex spending in China was equivalent to 176 percent of cloud business revenue, compared with 130 percent for US peers, concluding there is less risk in China. It noted that capex by Alibaba rose 75 percent in the second quarter, spending by Tencent surged 176 percent and spending by Baidu was up 55 percent. The soaring levels of global spending on AI development has been an investor concern.

Huawei Fraud Trial Begins in New York

Chinese tech giant Huawei Technologies went on trial in a New York court on criminal charges after eight years of legal wrangling with the US government. The Shenzhen-based company has pleaded not guilty to all 14 counts, including bank fraud, wire fraud and trade secret theft in activities dating back to 1999. Federal prosecutors accuse the company of engaging in intellectual property theft, violations of US sanctions on Iran and deceiving major banks about its Iran ties. In a statement,

Huawei said the US government's "overarching narrative is demonstrably false."

Qualcomm Shares Jump on Amazon AI Chip Deal

Qualcomm shares rose 3.2 percent on Tuesday after it struck a data-center partnership with Amazon Web Services, a boost in its campaign to crack Nvidia's dominance in artificial intelligence hardware. Under the deal, Qualcomm issued Amazon warrants for 25 million shares, a US$4 billion investment in tranches tied to AWS buying up to US$60 billion of Qualcomm server chips and other technology.

Economy & Markets

Chinese Exports, Imports Jumped in August

China's exports in August jumped 25 percent and imports rose 28.2 percent in dollar terms, according to official customs data. The nation reported a US$119.1 billion trade surplus for the month. Chinese shipments to the US last month surged 34 percent, while imports were up nearly 18 percent. Exports to the EU grew 6.6 percent, with imports edging up 0.7 percent. Shipments to South Korea surged almost 50 percent. Exports, a prime growth driver in China's economy, have been strong on foreign demand for autos and components used in AI infrastructure. Beijing is attempting to boost domestic consumption to provide more balanced growth.

Yen Strengthens on Rate-Hike Bets, Unwinding of Short Positions

The Japanese yen climbed to fresh seven-month highs against the US dollar on Tuesday, as currency traders unwound short positions amid growing expectations that the Bank of Japan will hike interest rates, which would underpin strength in the currency. The yen was trading at 153.74 per dollar in late afternoon trading in Asia. The US and Japan jointly intervened in currency markets in July to support the yen and squeeze traders in short positions betting on a decline in the currency.

Battery Material Maker Yuneng Expected to Discount Price in HK IPO

Yuneng New Energy Battery Material will likely discount the price of shares in its Hong Kong initial offering after early investors began offloading stock, Yicai reported. The company, already listed in Shenzhen, didn't disclose how much it hopes to raise in its listing application last month. The company's biggest customer and third-largest shareholder is battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), which announced in June that it would cut its stake in Yuneng. Another early institutional investor and shareholder, Shanghai-based Jinsheng New Materials, has also pared its holding. Yuneng reported first-half profit surged 854 percent to 2.9 billion yuan (US$432 million) a 143 percent jump in revenue to 34.9 billion yuan. From 2020-25, Yuneng was the world's largest supplier of lithium iron phosphate battery cathode materials by volume, according to Frost & Sullivan.

Film, Drama Stocks Surge as AI Moves Into Movie-Making

Film and short-drama stocks rallied across Chinese mainland markets amid expectations that AI will transform movie-making. Cinema operator Bona Film Group and Shanghai Film both hit the 10 percent daily trading limit, while China Ruyi Holdings, H&R Century Pictures and Jinyi Media posted big gains. Bona's upcoming "Sanxingdui: Future Tales," China's first AI-driven animated feature for theatrical release, drew attention at the Cannes Film Festival. Mango Excellent Media, which aired China's first feature-length AI-generated drama "Journey to the West Sequel" on August 31, added 11.7 billion yuan (US$1.7 billion) of market value in two days.

Corporate

Xiaomi Auto Launches New SkyNomad Series

Xiaomi Auto unveiled its extended range electric vehicle models SkyNomad N70 and N90, pricing them at between 209,900 yuan (US$31,300) and 299,900 yuan. SkyNomad is the second product line under Xiaomi Auto, parallel to SU7 or YU7. This allows Xiaomi to cover both the pure performance and family segments, with SkyNomad competing against the Li Auto L series and Aito's M series, while YU7 competes with other pure electric SUVs like the Tesla Model Y. Company Chairman Lei Jun said at the launch that the automaker's cumulative deliveries have exceeded 800,000 vehicles.

DeepSeek Launches 'Unprecedented' Hiring Spree

DeepSeek posted positions for about 150 engineers this week, the company's second major hiring campaign since raising 50 billion yuan (US$7.4 billion) in first-round funding in June. Harness team head Cui Tianyi called the fresh drive "unprecedented," seeking senior engineers with two to 10 years of experience, though fresh graduates are welcome. The employment focuses on two roles: server-side developers and elastic-computing engineers for AI agents. The hiring follows a busy three months in which DeepSeek rolled out the V4-Flash and V4 Pro models, released a developer preview of its Harness tools and raised application programming interface prices by as much as 11-fold.

Pop Mart Opens Flagship Store in Ritzy Retail Area of Paris

China's Pop Mart, creator of the Labubu collector doll craze, opened its first European flagship store in a high-end retail area of Paris. Pop Mart founder and Chief Executive Wang Ning met Bernard Arnault, head of luxury retailer LVMH, during a visit to Paris last week, triggering speculation about possible product co-branding.

Shanghai Xinhua Media to Take Control of News Outlet Calianshe

Shanghai Xinhua Media, a listed arm of Shanghai-based United Media Group, announced it will acquire a controlling stake in local financial news outlet Jiemian Cailianshe, another subsidiary of the group, in an all-share deal. Yicai said the transaction points to a major restructuring of assets.

Heytea Reopens Franchising

Chinese milk tea and fruit drinks chain Heytea has reopened franchise applications after an 18-month freeze, but its recruitment page issues caveats for wannabe partners: new tea drinks are not a windfall industry and anyone chasing short-term gains shouldn't apply; Heytea's complex menu makes operations harder than rivals; service lapses will trigger store closures or expulsion; and partners must personally master every station, from drink-making to management. The cautious tone follows a brutal stretch. Heytea halted franchising in February 2025, and then closed more than 650 stores this year amid market saturation, leaving about 3,500 shops.