A-share seed sector traded firmer after intraday volatility; Qiule Seed rose over 12%, Denghai Seed earlier hit the daily up-limit, and Shennong Seed, Wanxiang Denong, Nongfa Seed and Dunhuang Seed were among the top gainers.

Alibaba (09988.HK) priced an HKD 80 bln new-share placement at HKD 112.70 per share, offering 710 mln shares; placement expected to settle on Aug. 26.

The Financial Times reports investors funneled nearly $7bn of net inflows in July and the first two weeks of August into Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares, the largest leveraged ETF tracking the NYSE Semiconductor Index (30 US chip names), offering 3x exposure. The underlying index is down over 20% from its peak, and the ETF plunged about 70% from its June peak to the subsequent low, Morningstar data show. Leveraged single-stock funds tied to SK Hynix and SanDisk also drew substantial inflows during and after the sell-off. Goldman strategist Snyder described buy-the-dip/sell-the-rip as a common leveraged-ETF tactic; Barclays derivatives head Angupta warned buying dips can be like catching a falling knife.