Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index closed up 22.30 points, or 0.25%, at 9076.10 on Thursday, August 20.

CENC automatic determination: at 11:00 on Aug 20 an earthquake of about Magnitude 3.8 occurred near Fan County, Puyang, Henan (35.79°N, 115.69°E). Final parameters subject to the official rapid report.

US Dollar: 1. The US Treasury will double its long-term Treasury bond repurchase program to $4 billion. 2. Investors made record bets on long-term Treasury ETFs the day before the expansion of the US Treasury bond repurchase program. 3. US federal government debt surpasses $40 trillion; fiscal hawks: officials need to act quickly. 4. Fed meeting minutes: Several officials believe interest rate hikes may be necessary; most officials still expect inflation to gradually decline, but acknowledge the risk of persistently high inflation; participants warned of risks in AI stocks and mentioned the risk of Treasury bond volatility; Warsh pushed for fewer policy meetings this year, but no adjustments will be made; the minutes did not mention any calls for interest rate cuts. 5. The Fed accepted a total of $317 million from 18 counterparties in fixed-rate reverse repurchase operations. 6. US President Trump: (Regarding the bond market) Americans should not worry about volatility; again urged the Fed to cut interest rates. 7. Bessant becomes the most active US Treasury Secretary in market intervention in decades. 8. Despite a blank schedule, there was actual contact; US senators demanded that Warsh disclose his conversation with Trump. Euro: 1. ECB Governing Council member Rehn: Wage growth and the wage outlook remain moderate, with no clear signs of a second-degree effect. 2. ECB President Lagarde: Europe cannot miss the AI revolution. Pound Sterling: 1. KPMG: Rising UK inflation is unlikely to worry the Bank of England; interest rates are expected to remain unchanged for the remainder of the year. 2. Burnham releases his first public declaration of interests since becoming UK Prime Minister. Korean Won: 1. Bank of Korea: As of the end of June, short-term external debt was $198.5 billion, compared to $183.6 billion at the end of March; short-term external debt accounted for 46.5% of foreign exchange reserves, compared to 43.3% at the end of March; total external debt was $812.8 billion, compared to $774.4 billion at the end of March. Japanese Yen: 1. Japanese exports accelerated for the fifth consecutive month in July, with semiconductor exports surging 49.1% year-on-year. 2. Japanese medium-term government bonds experienced the largest outflow of foreign capital since 2006. Australian Dollar: 1. Australian unemployment unexpectedly rose, lowering market expectations for interest rate hikes. Other: 1. The Indonesian central bank kept interest rates unchanged, and the new governor predicted the rupiah would strengthen further. 2. Boosted by expectations of a dovish stance from the Federal Reserve, Asian currency indices rose to their highest level since March. 3. The governor of the Central Bank of Iran proposed establishing a financial corridor within the BRICS countries to reduce dependence on other currencies. 4. The governor of the Central Bank of Iran stated that no frozen funds have been unfrozen yet. 5. The World Economic Forum is again courting Christine Lagarde to become its chair. 6. The Department of Statistics Malaysia reported that Malaysia's exports grew by 38.0% in July (34.3% according to a Reuters poll); the trade surplus reached 22.46 billion ringgit in July (17.5 billion ringgit according to a Reuters poll).