Daily Buzz: 4 November 2026

US Conducts 'Limited' Strikes on Iran

The US military carried out what it called "limited" strikes against Iran's Qeshm Island on the eve of US midterm elections, multiple US media reported, even after US President Donald Trump said there would be no attacks before the elections and Vice President JD Vance was expressing hopes of reaching a "negotiated settlement" with Tehran. The Wall Street Journal reported one official saying the strikes followed Iran's firing at a US aircraft. Qeshm is the largest island in the Persian Gulf, located near the Strait of Hormuz and an alleged storage site for anti-ship missiles, mines, drones and attack craft.

Qatari negotiators have been communicating with Iran and the US to try to work out a deal to end a war now in its ninth month, but the two side remain far apart on issues such as US sanctions on Iran, Tehran's nuclear program and control of oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

Global benchmark Brent crude futures were trading at about US$104 a barrel. Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil exporter, whose energy facilities have been the target of Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, reported a 35 percent surge in third-quarter profit to US$36.3 billion, as its average realized crude price rose to US$95.20 a barrel from US$70.10 a year earlier.

North Korea Denies Any Involvement in Binance Crypto Heist

Democratic People's Republic of Korea denied a US FBI claim that it was behind the US$6.3 billion hack of digital asset platform Binance, calling the allegation a "grave political provocation," state media reported. Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accused Washington of misleading international public opinion by portraying cybercrimes around the world as the work of North Korea.

Separately, Binance said the hackers used a sham job interview with one of its engineers and a compromised internal AI tool in a "highly sophisticated" operation to engineer the heist. "This should not have happened," the world's largest digital asset platform said.

Ukraine Reports 33 Dead, 50 Missing After Russia Bombs School

At least 33 people were killed and another 50 missing after Russia dropped at least nine bombs on a school building where they had taken shelter in a village in southeastern Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky called it one of the deadliest single attacks of the war. The school also served as a local humanitarian aid center. Local officials said people were sheltering in an EU-funded reinforced basement designed to withstand most strikes, but the force of the bombs caused the concrete structure to collapse.

Trump Announces End of US$3.8 Billion Annual Aid to Israel

President Donald Trump said the US will end US$3.8 billion in annual aid to Israel at the end of the year because "they don't need it." He said Israel agreed with the decision. The funding, mainly used to buy weapons from the US, was a major talking point in the hotly contested US Senate race in the state of Michigan, where Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, a US-born Muslim of Egyptian heritage, was slightly ahead in polls. Trump has called El-Sayed, a Rhodes scholar and former assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia University, a jihadist. Democrats called Trump's statement an election day ploy.

Cambridge Scientists Detect Signals From the Zeptoverse

A team of physicists working at Cambridge University have picked up decay signals from the smallest scale of nature ever explored. The scientists said the discovery knocks at the door of what is called the zeptoverse, where matter is 100 billion times smaller than an atom. Using the Cern Large Hadron Collider, the scientists said they found a particle decay predicted to occur only once in every 10 billion of particles that live for just 1.5 trillionth of a second before they decay. The result could help researchers explore the dark matter that binds the universe together.

Top Business

China Official Says AI Financing Suffocating Other Industries

Xiao Yuanqi, a vice minister of the China National Financial Regulatory Administration, told the Global Financial Leaders' Investment Summit in Hong Kong that global investment in artificial intelligence is "overly concentrated" and crowding out traditional industries by raising borrowing costs. "Policymakers should prepare frameworks specifically addressing this AI-driven transformation, in terms of economic management and the prevention of financial risks," he said.

At the same summit, Emmanuel Roman, chief executive of Pimco, a leading US firm in the fixed-income market, warned that AI-related financing could swell to roughly US$10 trillion over the next five years, ultimately reaching "excessive" levels. He noted the US bond market at present totals US$12 trillion. In a panel discussion with Blackstone President Jon Gray, he said the AI industry needs to raise about US$2 trillion a year to fund capital expenditure, with such a scale eventually becoming too large. "Sooner or later the tide will go out, and when it does, something will break somewhere," he said. Gray was a bit more upbeat. "The changes that are happening are very profound, but I think it would be a mistake to underestimate the productivity gains that are coming, and the changes that will occur among consumers and businesses," he said.

Tesla's Shanghai Factory Deliveries Rise 10 Percent

Tesla's mega-factory in Shanghai delivered 67,829 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles in October, up 10 percent from a year earlier, the China Passenger Car Association reported. That marked the 12th consecutive month of annual growth, though deliveries fell 29 percent from September. The figures cover both the Chinese mainland and exports. Registrations of new Teslas rose last month in Europe, but the company faces increasing pressure from Chinese competitors grabbing a bigger maker share. Registrations soared 271 percent in Spain, 248 percent in Sweden, 186 percent in Portugal and 131 percent in Norway. Registrations grew 34 percent in Denmark, but its market share was only 0.7 percent, trailing China's BYD, Leapmotor, Xpeng and the SAIC-owned MG brand. In Italy, Tesla's market share rose to 0.4 percent but remained below BYD, Leapmotor and MG.

Yum China Profit Increases, Profit Margin Improves

Yum China, which operates domestic KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut fast-food chains, reported an 8 percent year-on-year increase in third-quarter revenue to US$3.5 billion, while net income rose 10 percent to US$311 million. Its operating margin expanded 0.5 of a percentage point to 13 percent, marking its 10th consecutive quarter of improvement. The gains were supported by streamlined operations, lower commodity costs and savings from the company's acquisition of the Pizza Hut brand on the Chinese mainland from its US parent in August. Same-store sales declined 3 percent year on year, but volume of transactions expanded. The company opened a record 692 net new outlets during the quarter, bringing its network to 19,989. The company raised its forecast of outlet numbers by the end of the year to 20,500.

Oracle Taps Equity, Debt Markets for US$20 Billion to Fund AI

US software giant Oracle raised US$20 billion through simultaneous bond and share sales to fund its costly AI and cloud infrastructure build-out. It priced an offering of 86.2 million shares at an 11 percent discount to its closing price on Friday to raise US$10 billion. Another US$10 billion is being raised from a five-tranche bond offering, with rates ranging from 7 percent to 8.65 percent and maturities between 2029 and 2046. Oracle had US$125.34 billion in debt payable and other borrowings as of August 31, with revenue in its fiscal year ended May 31 at US$67.36 billion.

AMD Beats Forecasts in Q3 Revenue

Advanced Micro Devices beat Wall Street expectations with a 45 percent increase in third-quarter revenue to a record US$13.4 billion and data center sales nearly doubling from a year earlier. Adjusted net income surged 77 percent to US$3.5 billion. Gross margin added 2 percentage points to 56 percent. AMD designs and sells computer processors and related technologies for data centers, personal computers and gaming.

Economy & Markets

Tech Firms Declare Confidence in Stock Market

Some top Chinese tech companies, including ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT), Cambricon and China Railway Signal & Communication, issued statements on Tuesday affirming confidence in their own development and the performance of Chinese mainland stock market after recent selloffs. "We firmly embrace the long-term growth trend of China's technology sector, and will continue to upgrade our product mix and technological iteration, sending China's semiconductor industry into higher end of the global value chain," said CXMT, which trades on Shanghai's Nasdaq-style STAR Market. The statements came after China's financial authorities unveiled new measures to underpin the markets. In New York, a Monday sell-off of tech stocks eased in Tuesday, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq rising 0.8 percent.

Zhongji Innolight Denies Rumors of Cuts in Overseas Orders

Zhongji Innolight, the world's largest producer of optical transceivers, denied market rumors that overseas customers are cutting orders, saying the vast majority of its customers have not revised down demand or orders, and some have increased orders. The announcement came as the company's shares tanked 13 percent on Tuesday in Shenzhen. The company said orders for 2027 already cover full-year production, and AI data center customers are taking delivery at a normal pace. It also noted that Nomura denied rumors that it cut the target price for Innolight shares.

China Central Bank Seeks to Slow Pace of Yuan Appreciation

China's central bank said in a statement on Tuesday that it will raise the amount of foreign currency that financial institutions must hold in reserves, a move aimed at slowing the pace of recent yuan gains that are hurting earnings of exporters. The People's Bank of China said it would raise the foreign-exchange reserve requirement ratio to 6 percent from 4 percent, effective on November 15. The decision is "aimed at strengthening the management of foreign exchange liquidity in financial institutions," the bank said. The adjustment would result in an extra US$24 billion being withdrawn from the financial system, according to a Reuters calculation based on official forex-deposit data. The yuan has gained more than 5 percent against the US dollar so far this year, raising the price of exports and creating forex losses when Chinese companies convert foreign earnings to their bottom lines. Following the announcement, both the onshore and offshore yuan weakened more than 0.2 percent against the US dollar.

Hong Kong Economic Growth Expands 5.2 Percent

Hong Kong economic growth in the third quarter rose 5.2 percent, accelerating from 4.2 percent in the prior three months. Private consumption expenditure gained 2.8 percent, and goods exports surged 30 percent. For the first nine months of the year, growth expanded 5.1 percent, its fastest pace in five years.

Australia Raises Rates to 18-Year High

Australia's central bank raised its benchmark cash rate by 25 basis points to an 18-year high of 4.85 percent, becoming among the world's most aggressive central banks in trying to tackle inflation. Consumer prices last month rose 4.3 percent following a 4 percent increase in August.

Corporate

Luckin Coffee Posts Record Quarterly Profit

Luckin Coffee, China's largest café chain, reported third-quarter profit surged 45 percent from a year earlier to a quarterly record of 1.9 billion yuan (US$285 million). Revenue increased 17 percent to 17.9 billion yuan but fell shy of market expectations. Same-store sales fell 11 percent, but customer transaction volume rose 10 percent to a record. Total outlets increased to 38,909, including 259 overseas. The US-listed company announced a US$500 million share buyback.

TikTok Doubles Down on AI Content Identification

ByteDance video platform TikTok said it has attached identification labels to more than 3 billion videos that were generated or significantly altered by artificial intelligence – the result of being the first video-sharing platform to adopt strict AI-identification standards. Francis Stones, TikTok's global head of responsible media and brand safety, stressed that transparency determines trust. The company said a survey found that trust among about 60 percent of users would drop if they learned it had concealed use of AI.

JD.com Closes In on German Retailer Ceconomy

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com said it secured conditional EU approval on Tuesday for its US$2.5 billion acquisition of German electronics retailer Ceconomy and aims to close the deal next week. The European Commission had initially expressed concerns that JD.com might have received preferential financing, tax incentives and grants from the Chinese government, helping it make a more attractive offer for Ceconomy. JD pledged to conduct intra-group transactions with Ceconomy on market terms, including financing, and will grant access to its warehousing and logistic services to third-party retailers on the same terms as those provided to Ceconomy, the commission said.

Nexperia Goes to Court Seeking Damages from Wingtech

Dutch chipmaker Nexperia launched legal proceedings in a Dutch court against its Chinese parent Wingtech, seeking compensation it says it incurred in a long-running battle over control of the Dutch subsidiary. Wingtech said it rejects all allegations and joint damages of US$2 ⁠billion that Nexperia is seeking. The two sides have been in legal battles since September 2025, when Dutch authorities took over Nexperia on security grounds and to prevent what they claimed were plans to move its operations to China.

Baidu Launches AI System for Robotaxi Training

China's Baidu launched Apollo World, an AI system designed to simulate real-world environments for training robotaxis and predict how they evolve as automakers race to cut the cost of developing self-driving vehicles.

The system can generate up to 100,000 kilometers of simulated driving daily, equivalent to about three years of real-world testing by a safety-driver autonomous vehicle, Baidu said. The system has already been deployed for training its Apollo Go robotaxi fleet, the largest in China.

Separately, Baidu's Kunlunxin Technology AI unit may defer its initial public offering in Hong Kong to next year on a delay in approval from Chinese securities regulators, Bloomberg reported, citing unidentified sources. The semiconductor design firm confidentially filed for a US$2 billion listing in the city last in January and originally expected regulatory approval in the summer.

Crown New Materials Surges on Debut Day

Shares in Crown New Materials surged 398 percent from their offer price in their trading debut Tuesday on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange after an initial public offering that raised 956 million yuan (US$143.3 million). The company focuses on industrial- and electronic-grade adhesive materials and functional film materials, with applications spanning consumer electronics, automobiles, new-energy batteries and semiconductors. Its customers include Oppo, Vivo, Huawei, Apple, BYD and CATL.

Japan Game Developer Goes Bust After NetEase Pulls Plug on Funding

Japanese game developer Nagoshi Studio entered liquidation proceedings after China's NetEase refused to provide the additional US$44 million needed to complete its new title "Gang of Dragon." NetEase has recently been scaling back investments in overseas developers. It previously shut down Japan's Ouka Studio, maker of "Visions of Mana," shortly after the game's release.