Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said no abnormal activity has been observed at Mount Fuji.

China International Capital Co says gold’s selloff since March does not signal the end of the bull market. International gold fell below $4,000/oz, off more than 25% from the March peak of $5,321/oz. CICC cites two primary drivers: US–Iran conflict-driven oil and inflation upside, which stoked tightening expectations, and a June FOMC appearance by a Fed official that was read as hawkish — the dot plot revised up inflation expectations and roughly half of the 18 voters signalled support for at least one rate hike this year. Futures markets have priced one Fed hike in 2026 and one in 2027; a stronger dollar has weighed on gold. CICC cautions against linear extrapolation: US inflation may have peaked and could trend down in H2, and the recent hawkish rhetoric does not necessarily mark a permanent Fed shift away from eventual easing. Conclusion: the correction is not the end of the gold bull market; a turnaround may be near. Recommendation: maintain positions and buy on dips.

Hong Kong stocks at the midday close: HSI fell 1.87% and the Hang Seng Tech Index dropped 3.21%. Storage, semiconductors, optical communications and lithium battery names led declines; pork and game-software sectors were among few gainers. Large-cap moves: Sunny Optical (02382.HK) down over 12%, Zhipu (02513.HK) down over 10%, SMIC (00981.HK) down over 6%, CATL (03750.HK) and Lenovo Group (00992.HK) down over 5%, BYD (01211.HK) and Alibaba (09988.HK) down over 4%, Baidu (09888.HK) down over 3%; NetEase-S (09999.HK) up over 1%. Newly listed stocks: 02272.HK up 195%, 01956.HK up 87%, 09630.HK up 76%.