EIA Crude Oil Stocks Change for Sep/11 in United States is -0.64M, lower than the previous value of -0.391M. The forecast was -1.6M.~



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Retail Sales YoY for Aug in United States is 6%, higher than the previous value of 5%.~



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Retail Sales MoM for Aug in United States is 1.2%, higher than the previous value of -0.6%. The forecast was 0.8%.~



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TENCENT (00700.HK) announced that it repurchased 231,000 shares of the company on September 16 at prices ranging from HKD432.8 to HKD438.8 per share, involving approximately HKD100 million.

Since the repurchase mandate resolution was approved, the group has cumulatively repurchased 45.7767 million shares, accounting for 0.50205% of its issued shares.
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BABA-W (09988.HK)-owned AutoNavi announced the launch of Amap 2026. Powered by spatial intelligence, Amap 2026 introduced Navigation Live and simultaneously upgraded products including Amap AI Dialogue, Amap World Maps and the Eagle Eye Guardian Warning System.

For Amap AI Dialogue, by combining the reasoning capabilities of large models with Amap's location, route, traffic and timing information, the system can break down vague requests into specific steps such as finding locations, planning routes and calculating time based on real-world spatial and temporal conditions, while adjusting promptly as conditions change to ultimately form executable plans.
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Spot USD/CNY added 40 bps to close at 6.7064 today (16th). As of 4:50 pm, USD/CNY in the night session dropped 57 bps. USD/CNH hiked 43 bps to 6.7075, 11 bps below USD/CNY.
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Chinese carmakers reported broadly in-line 2Q26 results, but the earnings masked widening divergence, prompting Morgan Stanley to value companies on a market-cap basis. BYD COMPANY (01211.HK) and GEELY AUTO (00175.HK) benefited from overseas mix and opex discipline. EV startups guided for weaker 3Q sales, while JVs dragged on traditional OEMs. Amid weak domestic demand, capturing export growth has become critical.

The report said China carmakers' 2Q26 results met expectations, but earnings quality diverged. BYD COMPANY (01211.HK) and GEELY AUTO (00175.HK) recorded YoY profit growth of 30-40% as improved gross margins and opex discipline absorbed FX losses. EV startups narrowed losses on better margins but guided for weaker sales volumes, while JV OEMs faced a double hit from weaker scale and FX/fair value losses. EHang Holdings (EH.US), an electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft company, saw QoQ recovery in revenue and deliveries, although the withdrawal of its revenue guidance highlighted potential commercialization risks.

Morgan Stanley adjusted ratings and target prices for auto stocks as follows:

Stock|Rating|TP
BYD COMPANY (01211.HK)|Overweight|HKD121 -> HKD114
GEELY AUTO (00175.HK)|Overweight|HKD28 -> HKD27
SAIC MOTOR (600104.SH)|Overweight|RMB20.1 -> RMB19.9
VOYAH AUTO (07489.HK)|Overweight|HKD4.6 -> HKD3.9
NIO-SW (09866.HK)|Overweight|HKD58 -> HKD68.5

XPENG-W (09868.HK)|Overweight|HKD96 -> HKD70
LI AUTO-W (02015.HK)|Overweight|HKD78.5 -> HKD68.5
GAC GROUP (02238.HK)|Overweight|HKD2.7
GWMOTOR (02333.HK)|Equalweight|HKD12 -> HKD13
BRILLIANCE CHI (01114.HK)|Equalweight|HKD2.9 -> HKD2.29

BAIC MOTOR (01958.HK)|Equalweight|HKD0.98
EHang Holdings (EH.US)|Overweight -> Equalweight|USD7.7 -> USD5.3
CHANGAN AUTOMOBILE (000625.SZ)|Equalweight|RMB10.8 -> RMB8.3
JIANGHUAI AUTO (600418.SH)|Equalweight|RMB40.8 -> RMB21.2
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This morning (16th), Chief Executive John Lee unveiled the Policy Address and Hong Kong's first Five-Year Plan. Paired with the upcoming Fed rate decision, market stayed on the sideline. The HSI opened up 122 pts before once turning south by nearly 100 pts, then rebounded repeatedly to close at 24,713, up 46 pts or 0.19%. Main board turnover totaled HKD181.085 billion. The HSCEI closed at 8,206, up 1 pt or 0.02%, while the HSTECH closed at 4,325, up 34 pts or 0.79%.

Major techs came under pressure. TENCENT (00700.HK) and XIAOMI-W (01810.HK) each closed down about 1.2%. BIDU-W (09888.HK), MEITUAN-W (03690.HK), BABA-W (09988.HK) and JD-SW (09618.HK) fell by less than 1%. KUAISHOU-W (01024.HK) closed down 0.5% at HKD29.66, hitting another record closing low.

This year's Policy Address contained limited new housing measures, lifting property stocks. NEW WORLD DEV (00017.HK) mounted 2.08%, SINO LAND (00083.HK) gained 1.22%, while HENDERSON LAND (00012.HK) and SHK PPT (00016.HK) each rose by less than 1%.

Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) reportedly accepted sharp memory chip price hikes from Samsung for 1Q27, driving Hong Kong-listed chip stocks higher. HUA HONG GRACE (01347.HK) surged 5.87%, SMIC (00981.HK) rallied 4.77%, BIREN TECH (06082.HK) shot up 2.56%, ILUVATAR COREX (09903.HK) climbed 6.23%, and MONTAGE TECH (06809.HK) advanced 5.46%.

Apple supply chain stocks were in a good shape, with LUXSHARE ICT (02475.HK) up 4.1%, LENS (06613.HK) up 2.4%, and BYD ELECTRONIC (00285.HK) up 3.1%.

For other blue chips, LENOVO GROUP (00992.HK) jumped up 8.33%, making it the best-performing blue chip of the day, after its CFO said net profit margin could reach Dell's level. CATL (03750.HK) sagged nearly 3% again to close at HKD501, a six-month low, barely holding above the HKD500 mark. Daiwa reportedly said CATL may cut production in September and that unit net profit in 3Q could decline QoQ. HSBC HOLDINGS (00005.HK), which dropped over 3% yesterday, rebounded 0.81% to reclaim the HKD160 level.
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Baidu AI Cloud announced at the 2026 Intelligent Economy Forum that it will build Baidu DuMate into a fully open ecosystem platform.

The Baidu DuMate ecosystem platform has simultaneously opened for participation and launched partner recruitment, opening four major capabilities to capability providers, including connectors, skills, toolkits and hardware, and pledged never to charge commissions to partners.
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South Korean Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, Bae Kyung-hoon, said South Korea must continue to push forward with AI development without delay, adding that the country can no longer afford the cost of slowing AI development.

In his view, there is a fundamental difference among countries that are already in a leading position and choose to slow development, and countries that are still catching up while also trying to open up markets.

Today (16th), XL2CSOPHYNIX (07709.HK) and XL2CSOPSMSN (07747.HK) advanced 5.82% and 3.12%, respectively.
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Core Inflation Rate YoY for Aug in United Kingdom is 2.6%, unchanged from its last period. The forecast was 2.6%.~



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Core Inflation Rate MoM for Aug in United Kingdom is 0.3%, higher than the previous value of 0.2%. The forecast was 0.3%.~



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Inflation Rate YoY for Aug in United Kingdom is 3.1%, higher than the previous value of 2.9%. The forecast was 3.1%.~



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Huawei Supervisory Board Chairman Guo Ping recently said that, regarding its large model strategy, Huawei is focused on connectivity and computing fields, while different business segments have varying demands for self-developed large models. Huawei's large model strategy is closely integrated with its own business objectives, maintaining investment while adopting differentiated deployment based on business scenarios.

Regarding the ICT business and computing field, Guo said Huawei's goal is to become NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US). The company's core advantage does not lie in possessing self-developed large models, but in supporting customers in building outstanding large models and ensuring that any large model globally can operate efficiently on Huawei Ascend, Kunpeng, supernodes and clusters.
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China's property new starts area in August sank 30% YoY to 32 million square meters, marking the sharpest downfall since December 2022; completed floor area dropped 28% YoY, the steepest decline in 13 months; real estate development investment faded 25% YoY; residential sales value fell 12% YoY, while sales floor area dropped 16%, Citi said in a research report. The broker lowered its 2026 forecasts for national real estate development investment and new starts to decreases of 22.6% YoY and 28.1% YoY, respectively.

The market has partially priced in risks arising from policies promoting sales of completed homes. The broker's sector top picks are developers with strong balance sheets, low financing costs and ample recent land reserves, including CHINA OVERSEAS (00688.HK), CHINA RES LAND (01109.HK), BEKE-W (02423.HK) (BEKE.US) and CHINA JINMAO (00817.HK).
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CLSA, in a research report, turned more cautious on the outlook for Macau GGR in lack of sufficient supportive macro indicators. The broker lowered its Macau GGR forecasts for 2027 and 2028 by 4% and 3% respectively to MOP259.2 billion and MOP270.4 billion, representing YoY growth of 2% and 4% respectively. EBITDA margins may come under pressure as opex growth could outpace GGR growth. GALAXY ENT (00027.HK) remains its only sector top pick.

CLSA maintained its 2026 GGR forecast, but slightly raised its Sep forecast from 0.3% YoY growth to 1.7%, while lowering its 4Q expectations. The broker also believed that the next phase of growth catalysts is unlikely in the near term, and margin pressure in 2027 may persist.

The broker maintained ratings on all stocks and adjusted target prices mainly due to earnings forecast cuts. Among them, GALAXY ENT (00027.HK)'s TP was lowered from HKD41.5 to HKD39.7, SANDS CHINA LTD (01928.HK)'s from HKD17.2 to HKD16.2, MGM CHINA (02282.HK)'s from HKD14.1 to HKD13.8, and Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited (MLCO.US)'s from USD6 to USD5.3. CLSA raised WYNN MACAU (01128.HK)'s TP from HKD5.5 to HKD7.1. The above five stocks were all rated Outperform. Meanwhile, the broker maintained SJM HOLDINGS (00880.HK)'s TP at HKD1.4 with an Underperform rating.
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Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) CEO Jensen Huang expressed differing views on AI safety issues at the Salesforce Dreamforce conference, with the debate becoming a market focus in recent days.

Amodei first appeared on stage with Salesforce, Inc. (CRM.US) CEO Marc Benioff. Earlier, Amodei published an article over the weekend calling on the industry to slow the pace of model development.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPCX.US) CEO Elon Musk and Google DeepMind Chairman Demis Hassabis later voiced support for Amodei's proposal.

Jensen Huang, who later shared the stage with Benioff, took a different view. He said market forces already exist and the industry does not need additional laws or regulatory measures. He added that speed and safety are not mutually exclusive, but companies should control the pace before ensuring products launched to the market are acceptable and safe.

Huang commented that this is a false binary choice, and people can absolutely achieve both at the same time, noting that model developers have a responsibility to handle products responsibly.

Huang suggested to move as fast as possible, but if at any time the company is perceived to be out of control, or the product cannot ensure safety, then it should be paused and things should be done correctly.
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An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed to CNBC on Tuesday (15th) that the company has been engaging with other AI companies, including Anthropic and Google, on how to cooperate in addressing safety issues.

The spokesperson said the discussions have continued since Google DeepMind Chairman Demis Hassabis proposed in July the establishment of a US-led "standards body".

Hassabis wrote on X at the time that he proposed creating a public-private partnership or self-regulatory organization overseen by the federal government, similar to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

Although OpenAI, Anthropic and Google are fierce competitors, all three companies have recently faced mounting pressure to address increasing AI safety and security concerns.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called on AI companies last Saturday (12th) to slow the pace of advancing the industry's most cutting-edge models, drawing praise from Hassabis and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
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China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS) announced on Wednesday (16th) that the central parity of USD/ RMB gained 42 bps from the previous day to 6.7628.
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After executives from Anthropic, OpenAI and other AI companies warned over the weekend about the risks of advanced AI and called for slower model development, US President Donald Trump posted on social media on Monday (15th), weakening such efforts.

Trump said that the only control or guardrails AI needs is a strong and smart (high IQ) president, and the US has such a person.

Trump's public opposition to new AI regulation presents another challenge for Anthropic and OpenAI. The two companies must grow rapidly to support valuations approaching USD1 trillion while also responding to concerns that technological development is advancing too quickly and could spiral out of control.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei published an article over the weekend calling on AI companies to slow development. Earlier, safety researchers Jacob Coxon and Joe Benton resigned from positions at its laboratory, saying there was widespread concern within the industry that AI systems could potentially lead to human extinction.
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