ChiNext rose more than 3% late in the session; the Shenzhen Composite gained 2.3% and the Shanghai Composite added 1.3%. More than 4,200 stocks advanced marketwide. Chip stocks strengthened, led by advanced packaging, CPO and optical-fiber sectors.

Japan 10-year government bond yield rose 3.5 bps to 2.910%.

At its Aug 17 AI ecosystem partners conference, Alipay unveiled China’s first full-stack intelligent-agent commercial platform and a multi-agent cross-end interconnection AHA protocol, designed to support large-scale deployment of agents into life-service scenarios. Partners include Qianwen, Huawei, OPPO, BYD, Geely and more than 20 other firms to co-develop the intelligent-agent interconnection ecosystem.