A PENTAGON internal assessment reported July 15 says actual U.S. spending on military operations against Iran could be as high as $100bn, well above the roughly $30bn the U.S. government has disclosed. The gap is attributed to undisclosed operational expenses, losses of advanced aircraft and significant damage to U.S. military facilities in the Middle East. Senator Angus King said the public is very disappointed by the lack of transparency and highlighted follow-on consumer costs, including high

Hong Kong stocks closed higher. The Hang Seng rose 1.33% to 25,008.60 and the Hang Seng Tech climbed 1.98% to 4,834.44. Turnover was HKD 322.892 bln (previous session HKD 304.297 bln). The market opened strong—HSI and HSTECH were up more than 2% and 3% respectively in early trade—then pulled back in the afternoon, with the index hovering around the 25,000 level at close. Autos and internet/tech names led gains all day; new-consumer and livestock names were active. Pharmaceuticals diverged in the afternoon. The semiconductor chain weakened broadly, led by memory chips. Notable movers: BYD Co. (01211.HK) +4.60%, Pop Mart (09992.HK) +6.87%, Alibaba Group (09988.HK) +3.27%; Joinn Laboratories (06127.HK) -6.04%, WuXi AppTec (02359.HK) -1.88%, Montage Technology (06809.HK) -22.95%, GigaDevice Semiconductor (03986.HK) -8.68%.

China International Capital Co research says the China food & beverage sector is in a bottoming recovery with structural divergence. Valuations have fallen to historical lows, offering a healthy margin of safety. Consumption trends favor better quality-for-price, functional and health-oriented products. Channel growth is expected from snack bulk sales, membership supermarkets and instant retail. Into H2, as new consumption scenarios emerge, the firm expects a gradual sector valuation re-rating to take hold.