U.S.-Iran military tensions in the Strait of Hormuz have escalated sharply, reigniting supply disruption fears in global oil markets. Brent crude broke through the $100 per barrel threshold during intraday trading on the 9th, marking the first time since July 24th that prices have reached this level. Market sentiment is now firmly focused on the risk of Middle East supply interruptions as the dominant pricing factor for crude.
Across equity markets, all three major U.S. indices opened lower, with the Dow Jones falling 0.42%, the S&P 500 slipping 0.25%, and the Nasdaq Composite dropping 0.38%. In tech megacaps, Nvidia declined 0.23%, Apple slipped 0.11%, Alphabet tumbled 2.33%, Microsoft edged down 0.29%, and Amazon lost 1.07%. Meanwhile, Meta surged 4.87% and Tesla climbed 0.79%. European markets saw losses deepen to more than 2% across several national indices.
In fixed income, the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.8184%, the highest level since November 2023. The UK 10-year gilt yield added 5 basis points to reach 5.23%. In foreign exchange, the Japanese yen strengthened for a third consecutive session, trading up 0.3% at 153.52 against the dollar, following public challenges from Bessent testing traders' conviction on his commitment to yen appreciation.
Where to focus next
The State Council Information Office will hold a press conference on September 10, 2026, at 3:00 PM Beijing time under the "Starting the 15th Five-Year Plan" series. Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China Lu Lei, Deputy Director of the National Financial Regulatory Administration Cong Lin, Vice Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission Li Chao, and State Administration of Foreign Exchange spokesperson and Deputy Administrator Li Bin will brief the media on implementing the 15th Five-Year Plan in the financial sector and advancing the construction of a financial power.
After market close today (September 9), the Beijing Municipal People's Government issued the "Beijing 15th Five-Year Plan for High-Precision and High-Tech Industry Development," introducing 22 specific policy measures across seven areas to accelerate the development of new quality productive forces, covering high-precision industries and the digital economy. Concurrently, the Beijing government also published the "Beijing 15th Five-Year Plan for Digital Economy Development," which proposes accelerating the construction of domestic advanced computing power iteration verification platforms, enhancing 100,000-card computing cluster building capabilities, and speeding up domestic technology validation through the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei national hub of the integrated national computing network.
Market sources on September 9 indicated that DeepSeek has commissioned CITIC Securities to prepare for a STAR Market IPO. Reports from 21st Century Business Herald, citing informed sources, confirmed this news. Additionally, DeepSeek plans to officially release the V4.1 Flash model around September 10, 2026, Beijing time. After extensive internal and external testing, the V4.1 Flash reportedly surpasses the V4 Pro across all metrics including performance, cost, speed, and total processing time. Furthermore, according to DeepSeek's open platform announcement, new pricing for the Flash series will take effect at 12:00 Beijing time on September 10, 2026.
Apple's annual iPhone launch event, themed "Surprise and Shine," will take place at Apple Park at 1:00 AM Beijing time Thursday (September 10). This year's event carries historic significance, widely considered Apple's most consequential launch in over a decade. Expectations point to the debut of Apple's first foldable iPhone, which will also mark the inaugural product event under new CEO John Ternus, signaling Apple's official transition into the post-Cook era.
Suanyuan Technology (688801.SH) announced on the evening of September 9 that its shares will list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange STAR Market on September 11, 2026. The IPO price is set at 142.18 yuan per share, ranking as the third-highest new stock offering price in A-shares this year. Previously, Moore Threads and Muxi Co. recorded first-day closing gains of 425.46% and 692.95% respectively on their STAR Market debuts. Should Suanyuan Technology rise more than 400% on its listing day, investors holding one lot (500 shares) could see floating profits exceeding 280,000 yuan.
At the September 9 regular press briefing, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning responded to an AFP question regarding a joint statement from three U.S. national security agencies accusing six Chinese AI companies of unauthorized distillation of U.S. models to extract proprietary knowledge. "We hope the U.S. side will earnestly implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and refrain from making unfounded accusations and smearing against China. Both China and the U.S. are major AI powers and should strengthen cooperation," Mao said.
Investment opportunities to watch
The World Gold Council reported that global gold ETFs attracted $18 billion in inflows during August, marking the second-largest monthly inflow on record. Total assets under management rose to $615 billion, with holdings reaching an all-time high of 4,189 tonnes. North America recorded its third-largest monthly inflow ever, while Europe posted its strongest monthly performance on record, with the two regions combined accounting for nearly 90% of global demand. Gold market activity rebounded significantly, with average daily trading volumes across major market segments increasing 21% month-on-month.
Additional sectors worth monitoring include robotics, following XPeng's announcement that its robot has completed mass-production validation; AI infrastructure, as Alphabet announced a 13 billion euro investment in Finland for AI infrastructure, its largest single investment in Europe; computing power, with reports indicating OpenAI expects to spend approximately $750 billion on computing resources by 2030; and hydrogen energy, as mandatory national safety standards for fuel cell electric vehicles have been opened for public comment.
Corporate announcements tracker
On the positive side, Tiandi Technology's shareholder Chengtong Financial Holdings plans to increase its stake by 300 million to 600 million yuan. China Energy Engineering's subsidiary won a 6.443 billion yuan EPC contract for a power plant project. Sheng Hui Integrated's subsidiary secured a contract worth approximately 262 million yuan for a factory electromechanical project in Vietnam. Shenma Electric won a 235 million yuan procurement contract from China Electrical Equipment Group.
On the negative side, Chengdi Xiangjiang has terminated a 403 million yuan data center general contracting contract due to intensified industry competition and rising raw material prices. Zhongzhong Technology's concert party Guomao Co. intends to reduce its stake by no more than 3% of shares. Yarun Furniture's shareholder holding more than 5% plans to cut its stake by no more than 3%.
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