(1) Stock Market News

• U.S. Market The Dow Jones closed at 40,347 points, still down by 494 points or 1.21%; the S&P 500 fell by 1.37%, closing at 5,446 points; the Nasdaq slid by 2.3%, closing at 17,194 points.

• Hong Kong Market The Hang Seng Index fluctuated within 200 points throughout the day, closing down by 39 points at 17,304 points. The total turnover for the day was reduced to over 94 billion yuan. The Technology Index underperformed the overall market, closing down by 1% at 3,476 points.

• Mainland Market The Shanghai Composite Index closed at 2,932 points, down by 6 points or 0.22%, with a turnover of 352.586 billion yuan. The Shenzhen Component Index closed at 8,673 points, down by 80 points or 0.92%, with a turnover of 429.663 billion yuan. The CSI 300 Index reported 3,419 points, down by 22 points or 0.66%; the ChiNext Index reported 1,665 points, down by 22 points or 1.31%.

(2) Economic News

• Hong Kong's retail sales have fallen for four consecutive months, with the decline narrowing and being smaller than the market expected. The Retail Management Association expects the weak retail market to continue until the end of the year. Changes in the consumption patterns of tourists and locals, coupled with the strong Hong Kong dollar, have led to four consecutive months of declining retail sales in Hong Kong, but the decline has further narrowed. In June, the total retail sales value in Hong Kong was 29.9 billion yuan, down by 9.7% year-on-year, which was smaller than the market's expectation of a 11.8% decline, and the decline was 1.7 percentage points narrower than in May.

• Macau's gaming revenue rebounded last month, but the increase was smaller than expected. The Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau announced that the gaming revenue in July was 18.595 billion Macau patacas, up by over 11% year-on-year, lower than the market's expectation of 14%, and increased by 5% month-on-month.

• The Bank of England announced a quarter-point rate cut, reducing the interest rate from 5.25% to 5%, in line with market expectations, marking the first time in four years.

• The Bank of Japan stated that as the labor market tightens, the increase in wages and prices may exceed expectations. In its quarterly outlook report, the Bank of Japan indicated that pricing behavior across the entire service industry is changing, and companies are increasingly inclined to pass on the rising labor costs to customers by raising prices.

(3) Company Performance Announcements

• BYD (01211) announced that the vehicle sales in July were 342,400 units, a year-on-year increase of 30.6%. Among them, pure electric passenger car sales were 130,000 units, down by 3.55% year-on-year; plug-in hybrid vehicle sales were 210,800 units, a growth of 66.87%. The total vehicle sales in the first seven months of this year were 1,955,400 units, a year-on-year increase of 28.83%.

• Toyota Motor Corporation announced its first quarter performance as of the end of June, with an operating profit of 1.31 trillion yen (68.3 billion Hong Kong dollars), an increase of 16.7% year-on-year, in line with market expectations, mainly due to cost reduction and the weak yen, offsetting the negative impact of domestic production and sales decline.

• Great Wall Motors (02333) announced that the sales volume in July was 91,300 units, down by 16.32% year-on-year; among them, new energy vehicle sales were 24,100 units, overseas sales were 38,200 units. In the first seven months of this year, the total sales volume was 651,000 units, up by 3.6% year-on-year; among them, new energy vehicle sales were 156,500 units, overseas sales were 239,700 units.