Breakfast | July 31, 2026

The NASDAQ Composite Index closed up 2.8%, with the chip index soaring 8%; Microsoft surged 16%, its market capitalization increasing by $450 billion in a single day, setting a historical record for an individual stock; Japan intervened again, causing the yen to skyrocket more than 3% against the U.S. dollar during intraday trading.

The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China held a meeting on July 30 to analyze the current economic situation and deploy economic work for the second half of the year. Nine key signals from the Political Bureau meeting: Macro policies need to exert force and improve efficiency, with pragmatic and effective incremental policies expected.

He Lifeng held video calls with U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent and Trade Representative Greer.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce introduced recent progress in intensive consultations between China and the EU: A consensus was reached on the new positioning of "stable and balanced key trade partners between China and the EU."

U.S. Q2 annualized GDP growth was 1.5%, missing expectations, while the PCE price index rose 3.4%. The U.S. June PCE price index fell month-on-month for the first time in six years, by -0.1%, with the year-on-year increase significantly narrowing.

The Bank of England kept interest rates unchanged at 3.75% as expected, but remained vigilant about the risk of persistently rising inflation.

Apple's iPhone revenue increased 22% last quarter, slightly beating expectations, but performance in services and the Chinese market was lackluster, warning of damage from supply shortages. During the conference call, it was indicated that supply constraints would drag down revenue, with maximum growth this quarter expected at 11%, below analyst expectations. The stock price fell more than 8% in after-hours trading at one point.

Amazon's Q2 cloud business growth exceeded expectations, but Q3 guidance missed expectations, free cash flow turned negative, and capital expenditure was raised. During the conference call, it was stated that servers would pay back in three years, with outstanding orders nearing $500 billion, and "AWS is expected to achieve annual revenue exceeding $1 trillion." The stock price rose 9% in after-hours trading at one point.

Unitree Robotics launched its IPO prospectus for the STAR Market, planning to issue 40.45 million shares, with subscription scheduled for August 10.

Reminder: The Bank of Japan will announce its interest rate decision on Friday, and China will release the official PMI for July on Friday.