US retail sales fell 0.6% in July on a nominal basis, the largest monthly decline in over a year, as weaker auto and online-store purchases pulled spending lower. Excluding autos and gasoline, sales declined 0.2%. The report suggests consumers lost some momentum after a strong 1H 2026; economists remain cautious after large one-off tax refunds early in 2026 and June’s personal saving rate fell to a four-year low.

Bank of Communications Group, as one of the lead underwriters, supported Shanghai Electric's issuance of the market's first corporate Shanghai Free-Trade Zone offshore bond, raising RMB 1.5 bln. The note is the first FTZ offshore corporate bond to list on HKEX. The transaction marks a milestone in Shanghai FTZ offshore finance and follows the 2026 Lujiazui Forum Shanghai International Financial Center Offshore Finance Action Plan.

LG Electronics said it plans to launch a next-generation bipedal humanoid robot in Q1 2027 built on NVIDIA’s robotics platform. The unit will use an NVIDIA Jetson Thor robotic chip module, be based on NVIDIA’s Isaac GR00T humanoid foundation model and run the Holoscan for Robotics safety system. LG will integrate technology from its subsidiaries — actuators from LG Electronics, sensors from LG Innotek and batteries from LG Energy Solution. The two companies said they will also collaborate across robotics, AI factory solutions and mobility.