A Reuters survey cited by Jin10 indicates Saudi Arabia is weighing a higher official selling price (OSP) for crude sold to Asia in October, following a rally in Middle East spot crude markets driven by tighter supply and stronger demand.

The poll of five refinery sources shows Arab Light, the flagship grade, may be priced at parity with the Oman/Dubai average or at a premium of up to $4 per barrel, implying a rise of $2 to $6 per barrel from September. In September, Saudi Arabia’s Asia OSP was set at a discount—the lowest level in six years.

The anticipated increase comes as Middle East spot markets strengthened, with the Dubai crude spot premium to swaps rising to $13.58 per barrel on August 21, the highest since late May. The monthly average premium this month was about $9.71 per barrel, versus $1.26 per barrel in July, and Oman crude spot differentials also strengthened by a similar magnitude.

Paul Krugman described Powell's Jackson Hole address as conventional and not indicative of an impending shift toward a more aggressive policy stance, according to ETNet.

Powell reiterated the Fed's objective of returning inflation to 2%, a stance markets interpreted as hawkish and supportive of bets on a potential September rate increase.

Krugman said Powell did not signal a rate cut or accommodate calls from President Trump for lower borrowing costs, instead sticking to standard inflation measures and suggesting a hawkish bias until price pressures ease.

ABN AMRO investment director Christophe Boucher said the remarks did not sufficiently convince him that policymakers will act. He is avoiding long-dated bonds, citing their sensitivity if markets worry the Fed cannot contain inflation. He also warned that if Powell does not back a September rate hike and inflation remains sticky, credibility concerns for the Fed could reemerge.

Citing Jin10, market observers pegged the probability of a September rate hike at about 60.4% after Kevin Warsh signaled a firmer policy stance.

Separately, the Treasury Department is increasing purchases of long-dated U.S. Treasuries in a bid to manage financing costs.

Hengxing Power announced that it has completed a Pre-A financing round led by Guokai Kechuang, the equity investment platform of the China Development Bank. Other participating investors include Shanghai Future Industry Fund, Xinding Capital, Changshi Capital, BV Baidu Ventures, Yunbo Capital, Mingyu Venture Capital and Yuanshi Fund, with existing shareholders Cathay Capital and Houxue Capital continuing to invest.

The company said the new capital will be used to expand its aerospace engineering team, advance space-based photovoltaic engineering, and develop the upstream and downstream segments of its space power business.

The Shanghai Composite closed up 0.26% at 3,962.52 after erasing earlier losses.

The CSI 300 fell 0.28%, the Shenzhen Component dropped 0.29% and the ChiNext Index gave up 0.41%, according to ETNet.

Shanghai B shares rose 1.33% while Shenzhen B shares declined 0.80%.

AI-related stocks strengthened, with pharmaceuticals and non-ferrous metals among the main decliners.

The Hong Kong dollar's overnight interbank rate (HIBOR) rose to 4.1% at 11:15 a.m., up from 3.42% at the previous close, according to ETNet. The one-week HIBOR was unchanged at 3.23%.

Other HIBOR tenors were quoted as follows: one month 2.85%, two months 2.95%, three months 3.02%, six months 3.23% and one year 3.51%.

The USD/HKD was quoted at 7.8378/8408, while the yuan was quoted at 6.7212/7219 per US dollar. The one-year offshore yuan non-deliverable forward stood at 6.5810/5892, implying a discount of 1,365 points versus the spot.

China Vanke (01109) declined 7.5% to HK$30.68, extending its three-session losing streak to a total 11.8%, according to ETNet. About 45.15 million shares changed hands, valued at roughly HK$1.427 billion.

Mainland property stocks had initially edged higher after China extended the maximum term for personal housing loans from 30 years to 40 years, a move expected to reduce monthly repayments by about 15%. The rally faded as expectations for global rate hikes increased. China Overseas (00688) fell 6.6%, Yuexiu Property (00123) down 13%, China Jinmao (00817) down 15%, Longfor (00960) off 6.2%, Sunac China (01918) down 5.2%, and Shimao Group (00813) slipped 3.4%.

On Aug. 28, the People’s Bank of China and the National Financial Regulatory Administration jointly issued a notice aimed at reforming and improving real estate credit management and accelerating a new model for property development. ETNet reported that with a RMB 1 million mortgage at 3% interest under equal principal and interest repayments, the monthly payment would fall from RMB 4,216.04 over 30 years to RMB 3,581.02 over 40 years, a reduction of RMB 635.02, about 15%.

Separately, Kevin Warsh's Jackson Hole remarks were hawkish, suggesting that stronger CPI and PCE readings this summer would not by themselves signal a meaningful improvement in the underlying inflation trend. After the speech, interest-rate futures shifted to pricing in a 25-basis-point rate hike in September, with the probability rising to 57%.

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark government bond climbed to a fresh peak not observed since June 11, as reported by Jin10.

GHW Intl said its wholly owned subsidiary GHW International (Malaysia) SDN BHD has signed a sale and purchase agreement with seller MCKILP Development SDN BHD to acquire a land plot in Malaysia for about RMB 76.93 million, funded by internal resources.

The land will be used to establish a production plant to support the group's international trade business.

The board noted that the acquired plot is rectangular, making it more suitable for development than the trapezoidal plot referenced in an agreement signed on February 19, 2024.

Tianji Holdings (01520) has signed an investment cooperation agreement with Gauss Technology (Hong Kong) Co. to create a joint venture in Hong Kong focused on expanding artificial intelligence capabilities and continuous learning initiatives.

The venture will leverage existing IP content and real-world operating scenarios to transform the AI application-layer strategy into user-facing products.

Tianji Holdings will hold a 51% stake in the new entity, while Gauss Technology will own 49%.