Gold bars and a gold globe in front of a rising market chart

Market Brief

The latest gold and financial-market news, in one place.

Coverage across regional and global markets, ranked by relevance.

Data overview

  • 1,998

    Total articles indexed

    Market stories stored and searchable in the live archive.

  • 70+

    Countries covered

    Global and regional coverage with country-level filtering.

  • AR + EN

    Languages supported

    Every story is kept in Arabic and English.

Hover the mark next to each label for a short explanation.

Fresh articles
1431
Published within the last 72 hours
All stored articles
1998
Everything kept so far
News sources
105/111
105 of 111 sources updated in the last 24 hours
Today's brief
15
Top 15 stories today by market impact
Countries with news
32/72
32 countries with stories from the last 72 hours, of 72 covered

Supported countries

Filter coverage

Arabic and English both work. Try multi-word searches like ذهب مصر, Egypt gold, or market rates.

News is at most 72 hours old.

Live coverage

Showing 1-45 / 45 matching articles

01
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

Chinese treasury futures launch cements Hong Kong as premier yuan hub

When the Hong Kong stock exchange launched five-year China government bond futures on August 3, it did more than simply expand the city’s derivatives product suite. As the only China government bond futures in the offshore market, the contract deserves attention as it finally gives international investors an exchange-traded tool to hedge against yuan interest rate exposure, strengthening Hong Kong’s ability to price yuan assets, manage risk and serve global investors. The launch comes as the...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 11:30 AM

Impact

67

02
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

Hong Kong’s dim sum bond market hits new heights as State Grid deal draws record orders

Hong Kong’s offshore yuan bond market has seen another record-breaking deal – the largest single issuance by a Chinese state-owned enterprise – underscoring the growing appeal of the city’s dim sum bond market. State Grid Corporation of China raised 14.9 billion yuan (US$2.2 billion) through offshore yuan-denominated bonds, known as dim sum bonds, according to a statement on Monday from Bank of China, which acted as a joint global coordinator for the deal. The offering comprised 3.9 billion yuan...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 11:00 AM

Impact

63

03
🇨🇳 Chinese
economics/CN | global

Chinese President Xi Jinping leads party elite in final farewell for ex-premier Zhu Rongji

Chinese President Xi Jinping led the party elite to pay a final tribute to former premier Zhu Rongji who was cremated on Tuesday as national flags were lowered to half mast. Zhu, who died of an illness in Beijing last Wednesday aged 97, served as premier from 1998 to 2003 and is regarded as the chief engineer of the country’s economic reform. He played a pivotal role in transitioning China towards a market-based economy and steered its entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), which paved...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 11:48 AM

Impact

54

05
🇨🇳 Chinese
economics/CN | middle_east

China’s growth expectations ease as economy loses momentum in July

Beijing appears content with high-tech manufacturing sectors, expecting no stimulus packages, while Chinese economic growth may drop below 4.5% target amid slowing industrial production

Anadolu Agency Economy | discovered by Anadolu Agency Economy | Aug 18, 2026, 12:12 PM

Impact

52

06
🇨🇳 Chinese
markets/CN | global

82% of Chinese firms eye overseas growth, with Hong Kong top service support choice

More than 80 per cent of surveyed mainland Chinese companies plan to grow their overseas presence, with Hong Kong listed as their top choice for a professional services platform to support expansion, the Trade Development Council (TDC) has found. The council’s survey, published on Tuesday, also showed that about 94 per cent of respondents were eyeing countries in the Belt and Road Initiative for expansion. The initiative refers to Beijing’s ambitious global infrastructure and trade programme,...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 3:53 PM

Impact

52

07
🇨🇳 Chinese
gold/CN | global

PLA troops sent gold, New Taiwan and US dollars in ‘wartime financial support’ drill

The People’s Liberation Army used a drone to deliver cases of cash and gold bars in a field during a “wartime financial support” drill apparently simulating a Taiwan operation, according to a state media report. A multi-rotor drone was used to drop the camouflage cases at designated locations during the exercise conducted by the PLA Eastern Theatre Command, national newspaper Defence Times said last week. The report prompted heated discussion online and has since been deleted. It included...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 1:00 PM

Impact

50

09
🇨🇳 Chinese
economics/CN | global

Myanmar’s president heads to Moscow seeking Russian arms and oil

Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to host Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing on Tuesday, as the Southeast Asian leader seeks an economic reboot for his war-ravaged country and fresh supplies of fertiliser, oil and weapons. A pariah to much of the West over his 2021 coup and role as army chief during the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya Muslim minority, Min Aung Hlaing has nonetheless found friends in Beijing, New Delhi and Bangkok over recent months. That followed a heavily criticised election won...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 12:15 PM

Impact

46

10
🇨🇳 Chinese
economics/CN | global

China stocks turn choppy as investors await stimulus

Investors remained cautious as they looked for stronger government support. Premier Li Qiang called for more measures to meet this years economic targets and said China would speed up the development of new growth areas, including the Six Networks.

Business Standard Markets | discovered by Business Standard Markets | Aug 18, 2026, 2:21 PM

Impact

43

11
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

US transshipment ‘scam’ claims put Asean exporters in a bind

Southeast Asian exporters may soon face a heavier burden of proof to show they are not helping Chinese goods dodge US tariffs after the White House named nine countries in the region as part of what it called a global “Shadow Transshipment Network”. The warning came in a White House report titled “The Great Transshipment Scam”, which alleged that Chinese-origin goods were being routed through lower-tariff jurisdictions and re-entering the US market under new national identities. Analysts said...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 8:13 AM

Impact

42

12
🇨🇳 Chinese
markets/CN | global

Baidu’s quarterly revenue drops 4% as AI cloud surge fails to offset advertising slump

Chinese tech giant Baidu on Tuesday posted a 4 per cent year-on-year decline in second-quarter revenue, as continued weakness in advertising outweighed growth in its artificial intelligence cloud operations, highlighting intensifying competition in China’s tech sector. Revenue for the three months ended June reached 31.3 billion yuan (US$4.62 billion), slightly missing the 31.6 billion yuan consensus estimate from analysts polled by Bloomberg. Net profit for the quarter was 2.3 billion...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 12:45 PM

Impact

42

14
🇨🇳 Chinese
commodities/CN | middle_east

Copper tests new record amid AI and energy demand

Data center, renewable energy, electric vehicle, and other related investments drive copper demand, while US-China supply competition and producers failing to meet production targets keep copper above $6.7 per pound

Anadolu Agency Economy | discovered by Anadolu Agency Economy | Aug 18, 2026, 12:09 PM

Impact

41

15
🇨🇳 Chinese
economics/CN | global

Singapore’s universities race to embrace AI as job demands transform

After years of concern over students using artificial intelligence to cut corners, Singapore’s universities are embracing the technology, driven not just by changes in the classroom but by pressure to prepare graduates for an economy that increasingly prizes AI literacy. But analysts say educators still face the challenge of ensuring students use AI to sharpen their critical thinking rather than relying on it for quick answers and guidance. On August 11, the National University of Singapore...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 12:00 PM

Impact

41

16
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

Meet the Chinese AI star who splashed a reported US$70m on a California mansion

Tony Wu Yuhuai, the China-born co-founder of Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence lab, sparked discussions across Chinese social media after reportedly spending US$70 million on a six-bedroom Californian mega-mansion. The property deal, the largest so far this year in the Bay Area, pushed the thirty-something AI star under the spotlight, alongside other Silicon Valley-based Chinese talent that has contributed to frontier AI labs from OpenAI to Meta Platforms. Wu appeared to be the buyer of a...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 5:00 PM

Impact

33

17
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

Infertility may affect 79.6 million women by 2036, posing challenge for Hong Kong

Global infertility cases among women aged 35 to 49 are projected to rise by almost half to 79.64 million by 2036, posing a major public health challenge for Hong Kong as delayed childbearing becomes increasingly common, a large-scale study has found. The study, co-led by the University of Hong Kong, said on Tuesday that the city’s average maternal age was among the world’s highest and called for stronger fertility education and earlier reproductive planning rather than a primary focus on...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 4:29 PM

Impact

33

18
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

When prey instinct strikes: fast ways to save small pets from big dogs

The safe handling of dogs has become the subject of intense social media debate in Hong Kong after two small pets were fatally mauled by a large canine on the loose on Monday. The 60kg dog, which was not on a leash, killed a miniature poodle near Yoho Mall in Yuen Long and a bichon frise at nearby Lolli Park within 20 minutes of each other. The licensed animal has been captured and an investigation is under way. The South China Morning Post spoke to canine behavioural experts and veterinary...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 4:21 PM

Impact

33

19
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

Chinese doctors get double-thigh amputee to walk again in world first

Chinese surgeons have enabled a man to walk again after an accident severed both his legs at the thigh, marking a rare success for advanced reconstructive procedures. After nearly 20 months of intensive post-operative recovery, the patient is reportedly able to walk indoors with a frame and manage most daily tasks unassisted. Crucially, sensation has returned to his lower legs down to his ankles. The double-thigh replantation, performed at an orthopaedic hospital in eastern China, is a global...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 4:00 PM

Impact

33

20
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

Court orders defunct Apple Daily to pay HK$1.5 million over defamatory articles

A Hong Kong court has ordered the defunct Apple Daily newspaper to pay HK$1.5 million (US$191,200) in damages to a listed company and two senior executives over 10 defamatory articles that accused them of spying on the city’s pro-democracy activists at Beijing’s behest. In a written judgment delivered on Tuesday, the High Court ruled against former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying’s flagship publication after the outlet – taken over by liquidators following a government petition in 2021 –...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 3:24 PM

Impact

33

21
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

Alibaba’s lightweight Qwen model takes on larger AI systems from OpenAI, DeepSeek, Zhipu

Alibaba Group Holding’s new lightweight AI model Qwen3.8-27B has matched much larger near-frontier rivals while being able to run on everyday hardware, impressing developers as local AI gains momentum. The Qwen3.8-27B, a small model with 27 billion parameters, performed on par with OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 Luna, which was billed as the most cost-efficient model in the US lab’s latest flagship series, benchmark firm Artificial Analysis said on Monday. It nearly matched leading open-weight models from...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 3:00 PM

Impact

33

22
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

Owner of unleashed 60kg dog arrested after 2 small pets killed in Hong Kong

Hong Kong authorities have arrested the owner of a large, unleashed dog that fatally attacked two smaller pets in Yuen Long, as the incident sparks calls for heavier penalties for irresponsible pet owners. The owner of the 60kg dog was arrested in Yuen Long on Tuesday afternoon in an operation by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD), according to a spokesman. Officers recorded a statement from the owner, while the dog remained under observation at the department’s...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 2:12 PM

Impact

32

23
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

‘Die on the road, not in hospital’: Chinese man takes paralysed wife on epic road trip

A man from eastern China has spent a decade travelling with his partially paralysed wife, claiming that life on the road has made her “100 times” more spirited. Liu Peijin, 69, a former serviceman from Weifang in Shandong province, dedicated 18 years to the military, much of that time away from his wife, who was his primary school classmate, as reported by Hongxing News. As newlyweds, they dreamed of exploring China together in retirement. However, in 2010, complications from diabetes left Liu’s...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 2:12 PM

Impact

32

24
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

Create judge training pathway to tackle Hong Kong courtroom delays: think tank

Hong Kong should establish a full-time training pathway for top law graduates to become judges, helping to expand the local judicial talent pool and ease courtroom delays, a think tank founded by Executive Council member Ronny Tong Ka-wah has proposed. POD Research Institute founder Tong also said on Tuesday that reducing waiting times for a court date would ensure the rule of law was upheld and safeguard human rights. The think tank noted that the vacancy rate among judges and judicial officers...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 1:53 PM

Impact

32

25
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

Top Chinese general draws on Jiang’s legacy to highlight importance of loyalty in military

China’s most senior general Zhang Shengmin has invoked the late former president Jiang Zemin’s response to the collapse of the Soviet Union and first Gulf war in an article emphasising the importance of party unity and military reform in the face of external threats. This month has seen a series of commemorative events to mark the centenary of Jiang’s birth, including a grand ceremony in Beijing on Monday, where President Xi Jinping gave a 40-minute speech highlighting his predecessor’s...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 1:47 PM

Impact

32

26
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

The Milky Way swallowed a smaller galaxy about 11.8 billion years ago

The Milky Way, a ⁠large and spiral-shaped galaxy that is home to hundreds of billions of stars including our sun, has taken a long and complicated path to achieve its current dimensions, as illustrated by new research documenting a milestone event early in its history. Scientists observing clusters of stars congregated near the Milky Way’s centre have discovered evidence that our galaxy swallowed a smaller galaxy roughly 11.8 billion years ago, when the universe was less ‌than 15 per cent of its...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 1:30 PM

Impact

32

28
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

Hong Kong births fall below 30,000 for first time, even as population edges up

Hong Kong recorded fewer than 30,000 births annually for the first time on record – a 15.6 per cent year-on-year decline – even as its population rose by 0.3 per cent to more than 7.5 million by mid-2026, the Census and Statistics Department (CSD) revealed on Tuesday. Provisional data showed that the city recorded 29,700 births between mid-2025 and mid-2026, down 15.6 per cent from the 35,200 recorded during the same period a year earlier. It was the first time since official records began in...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 12:41 PM

Impact

32

29
🇨🇳 Chinese
economics/CN | global

Danantara Tegaskan Saham BUMN di KCIC Bakal Dialihkan ke Kemenkeu

Danantara memastikan seluruh saham BUMN di PT Kereta Cepat Indonesia China (KCIC) akan dialihkan sepenuhnya ke Kementerian Keuangan (Kemenkeu).

CNN Indonesia Economy | discovered by CNN Indonesia Economy | Aug 18, 2026, 3:51 PM

Impact

32

30
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

Hong Kong customs arrests 10 over HK$56 million cannabis haul bound for Europe, Africa

Hong Kong customs has arrested 10 people and seized suspected cannabis buds worth an estimated HK$56 million (US$7 million) in a month-long operation targeting a syndicate accused of smuggling the drug from Southeast Asia to Europe and Africa via the city. Code-named Fire Mesh, the operation ran from July 13 to Monday this week and resulted in the seizure of about 240kg (529lbs) of cannabis buds, the Customs and Excise Department said on Tuesday. “We targeted transit baggage from Southeast Asia...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 11:47 AM

Impact

32

31
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

Hong Kong scrambles to contain cholera outbreak in 1961 – from the SCMP archive

This article was first published on August 18, 1961. Hong Kong declared infected area Authorities adopt strict measures against cholera Stringent health measures to protect Hong Kong have been taken following the confirmation yesterday (August 17, 1961) of four cases of cholera and the declaration of the Colony as an infected area. There have been two deaths from the disease and another suspect has been admitted to Lai Chi Kok Hospital. Mobile teams of health inspectors with police officers have...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 11:15 AM

Impact

32

32
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

Thailand to review pardon rules after release of 85-year-old drug lord brings backlash

Thailand’s justice minister pledged on Tuesday to review pardon criteria following backlash over the release of an 85-year-old drug trafficker who served less than a decade of a life prison sentence. Laota Saenlee, a former anti-communist guerrilla turned drug runner linked to powerful Myanmar drug kingpins, was arrested by undercover officers in 2016 for selling crystal meth in the Golden Triangle drug-producing region. The rugged Golden Triangle zone – where Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet –...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 10:35 AM

Impact

32

33
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

Man who raped daughter multiple times over a decade jailed for 22 years

A Hong Kong court has sentenced a man to 22 years in prison for repeatedly raping his daughter since she was 13, with the judge saying the penalty could not make up for the ordeal the victim suffered and calling it one of the worst sexual assault cases involving a biological father that he had ever seen. High Court judge Eric Kwok Tung-ming on Tuesday handed down the sentence to the 48-year-old defendant, whom he described as lacking “an ounce of kindness” towards his daughter, whom he raped 14...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 10:26 AM

Impact

32

35
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

Cook Islands PM re-elected despite row over China ties with New Zealand

Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown’s securing of another term, despite a dispute with New Zealand over his government’s deals with China, suggests voters are more focused on the cost of living than geopolitical concerns, analysts have said. Brown’s Cook Islands Party is on track to win a fifth consecutive term in government after securing 18 seats – up from its previous 12 – in last week’s election, according to preliminary results. That gives the party a three-quarter supermajority in the...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 10:00 AM

Impact

31

36
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

Xi’s 2026 trip to US

Xi’s 2026 trip to US

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 9:59 AM

Impact

31

37
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

Malaysian preacher faces backlash over Chinese festival remarks

A preacher and prominent conservative commentator has drawn backlash in Malaysia after questioning why a banner for a traditional Chinese festival was not written in Malay, the country’s national language. Ridhuan Tee Abdullah, an ethnic Chinese Muslim convert known for provocative commentary on race and religion, was criticised by social media users and a Selangor politician for casting a routine notice about the Hungry Ghost Festival as an issue of language and national identity. In a post on...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 9:06 AM

Impact

31

38
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

Chinese navy’s combat software guru Zhao Xiaozhe disappears from academy website

A top naval software expert, whose work helped warships to process battlefield information and support combat decisions, has vanished from the Chinese Academy of Engineering’s online membership list. Zhao Xiaozhe, 63, a vice-admiral in the PLA Navy, once headed the Central Military Commission’s top science and technology body, helping to shape research priorities across China’s armed forces. He is the latest prominent defence expert to disappear from the academy’s website, following reporting in...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 9:00 AM

Impact

31

39
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

Chinese commercial banks gain margin relief, but subdued lending dims outlook

Chinese commercial banks recorded a rare, modest uptick in net interest margin (NIM) in the second quarter of 2026, marking the sector’s first quarterly expansion in the profitability indicator since 2022, even as underlying loan demand remained weak. Average NIM for commercial banks edged up by 0.01 percentage point to 1.41 per cent in the June quarter, from 1.40 per cent in the first quarter, according to data released by the National Financial Regulatory Administration on Friday. Performance...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 9:00 AM

Impact

31

40
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

Committee probing Tai Po fire delays submission of report till end of October

An independent committee investigating Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades will postpone submitting its report by a month, to the end of October, attributing the delay to the complexity of issues and the large volume of documents it must review. The committee announced on Tuesday that it had sought approval from Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu to extend the deadline for submitting the report. The judge-led panel was originally tasked with concluding its work over nine months and deliver its...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 8:32 AM

Impact

31

42
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

Why is Chinese state media telling people to stop using English AI terms?

China’s state media has called for English-language terms related to artificial intelligence (AI) to be dropped in favour of standardised Chinese equivalents in a push to boost the country’s “discourse power”. As AI technologies have rapidly spread in China, English terms have entered common speech in the country, such as “agent” and “LLM” for large language model, a commentary published by the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily noted earlier this month. The article argued that reliance...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 7:00 AM

Impact

30

43
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

The ugly side of pressure on White House women to maintain Trump’s ‘Maga perfect’ image

Women working in US President Donald Trump’s White House were not surprised that press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced last week she was leaving her job – and they do not think it was just because she wants to spend time with her young children. In an interview with the Daily Mail, several anonymous White House employees spoke of the pressure that Leavitt, executive assistant Natalie Harper and other female staff are under to adhere daily to a “Maga perfect” standard of beauty that requires...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 6:56 AM

Impact

30

44
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

Zhipu AI’s answer to Project Glasswing marks shift for Chinese cyber safety: researcher

Zhipu AI’s launch of China’s first answer to Project Glasswing signals a shift in how the country’s top artificial intelligence labs approach global cybersecurity, according to a researcher. The Beijing-based firm – now known internationally as Z.ai – announced its new GLM-5.3 model on Friday alongside the launch of its “Shield of Open Source” initiative. The programme offers free security audits to help users patch software vulnerabilities, as well as automated code-auditing tools via its ZCode...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 6:00 AM

Impact

30

45
🇨🇳 Chinese
finance/CN | global

Bangkok gun shop trades bullets for baguettes as Thai firearm ban bites

Loaves of sourdough bread now fill the display window of Suchart and Friends Gun, a firearms shop-turned-bakery in Bangkok’s old quarter where pistols and rifles once lined the glass case. Like all the gun shops in Thailand, it ‌has been banned from importing firearms since a 2023 shooting at a Bangkok mall – one of several mass shootings, including at a school and a childcare centre, that have periodically prompted tighter regulations in a country with the second highest private gun ownership...

South China Morning Post Business | discovered by South China Morning Post Business | Aug 18, 2026, 5:15 AM

Impact

30