News

According to the Financial Times, Ukraine is seeking approval to use Starlink-equipped drones to strike ballistic missile launchers within a range of up to 200 kilometers inside Russia.

Jefferies: Raises its target price for Alibaba (09988.HK) from $185 to $190.

Traders: The Reserve Bank of India may be selling dollars to protect the rupee.

At the close of the morning session, most domestic futures contracts rose, with container shipping to Europe up nearly 9%, Shanghai silver up over 4%, platinum and lithium carbonate up over 3%, pulp up nearly 3%, and polysilicon, palladium, and fuel oil up over 2%. On the downside, rapeseed meal and rapeseed oil fell nearly 2%, while apples, soybean meal, stainless steel (SS), red dates, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) fell over 1%.

Royal Bank of Canada: Lowered its target price for Walmart (WMT.N) from $137 to $131.

JPMorgan Chase raised its price target for Moderna (MRNA.O) from $40 to $77.

New Zealand and Thailand launch strategic partnership.

Hong Kong-listed blockchain stocks rose, with Boyaa Interactive (00434.HK) up nearly 13%, Yuxing Technology (08005.HK) up nearly 12%, Linekong Interactive (08267.HK) up 11.5%, and OKLink (01499.HK) up over 9%.

The yield on Japan's 5-year government bonds rose 1.5 basis points to 2.115%.

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSI) opened 109.12 points higher, or 0.42%, at 25807.61 on Friday, August 21. The Hang Seng Tech Index opened 9.88 points higher, or 0.21%, at 4710.41 on Friday, August 21. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index opened 31.8 points higher, or 0.37%, at 8579.64 on Friday, August 21. The Hang Seng Red Chip Index opened 21.14 points higher, or 0.5%, at 4232.01 on Friday, August 21.

The deputy governor of the Bank of Korea said that the exchange rate of the US dollar against the Korean won will tend to decline from a fundamental perspective.

The yield on Japan's 30-year government bonds rose 5.5 basis points to 4.06%.

The yield on Japan's 20-year government bonds rose 6 basis points to 3.77%.

Japan's preliminary composite PMI for August was 53.4, compared to 52.7 in the previous month.

Japan's preliminary manufacturing PMI for August was 55.1, compared to 54.5 in the previous month.

Japan's preliminary services PMI for August was 52.3, down from 51.2 in the previous month.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index opened down 11.80 points, or 0.13%, at 9072.00 on Friday, August 21.

The NI225 opened down 639.56 points, or 0.97%, at 65,577.23 on Friday, August 21.

Japan's nationwide unadjusted CPI rose 0.4% month-on-month in July, compared with 0% in the previous month.

Japan's core CPI rose 1.8% year-on-year in July, below the expected 1.80% and the previous reading of 1.60%.