Hong Kong stocks rose; the Hang Seng Index gained 2.0% and the Hang Seng Tech Index gained 2.1% as internet and tech shares rebounded.

Peking University's Institute of Urban Soft Power and Zhaopin released the 2025 China New-Quality Talent Competitiveness Index on July 8. Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai remain the top three, forming the first-tier cluster for new-quality talent development. New first-tier cities account for 36.83% of recruitment demand for new-quality talent, the highest share across city tiers and the main source of incremental talent inflows. Employment preferences of 16–34-year-old new-quality talent are shifting from first-tier cities toward Chengdu, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Nanjing and other new-first-tier or industry-specialized cities; the pace of talent attraction in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen has moderated.

API: U.S. refined-product inventories fell 1.801 mln barrels in the week to July 3, versus a 1.0 mln-barrel build expected and a prior 2.922 mln-barrel build.