Amid heightened index volatility in July, listed companies stepped up repurchases and shareholder buying. As of July 31 (disclosure date), the Shanghai Stock Exchange main board disclosed 89 new share repurchase plans with an aggregate upper limit of about CNY20.4 bln and 67 new shareholder purchase plans with an aggregate upper limit of about CNY13.7 bln; the monthly total of new buyback and shareholder purchase plans was the largest so far this year.

Italy's 10-year bond yield fell 10bps to 3.93%.

Led by the Hubei provincial medical insurance bureau, the fourth national centralised procurement for proprietary Chinese medicines published full results. The tender set 28 procurement groups and covered 89 commonly used proprietary Chinese medicines, including OTC and exclusive varieties, representing a market of more than CNY45 bln; over 40,000 public medical institutions reported purchase volumes. A total of 344 firms submitted 468 products; 243 firms with 310 product specifications won. Overall average price cuts exceeded 50%. The procurement used a composite scoring model (price 60%, technical evaluation 40%) and introduced reinstatement/supplementary lists and A/B grouping competition, moving away from lowest-price-only selection to incorporate drug quality, clinical value and supply stability. Industry analysts said the round accelerates alignment of in-hospital and retail pricing, will concentrate share with firms that have scale, supply-chain and quality-control advantages, and is likely to accelerate exit by smaller players lacking core barriers.