The World Economic Forum’s board discussed this week efforts to recruit European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde as its next chair, people familiar with the matter said. Sources say Lagarde appears ready to accept but wants assurance that tensions with WEF founder and former chair Klaus Schwab have been fully resolved. Schwab abruptly resigned in April 2025 amid an investigation into alleged financial misconduct and was later cleared, but strains between him and the forum have persisted

SK Hynix's U.S.-listed shares rose over 2% in after-hours trading, reversing an earlier drop of more than 3%, after the company announced a KRW40 trillion share buyback; repurchased shares will be cancelled and capital returned to shareholders.

LME copper fell sharply after the Shanghai close on Aug. 19. Early trade hovered around $13,960/t, briefly topping $13,980/t before collapsing below $13,900/t to an intraday low near $13,880/t. LME inventories rose to 235,975 t, up 12,425 t versus the previous session (inflows 17,000 t, outflows 4,575 t). Canceled warrants dropped to 77,225 t, down 18,650 t, lowering the canceled-warrant ratio to 32.73%. The simultaneous rise in LME stocks and decline in canceled warrants implies more exchange-deliverable supply, exerting pressure on high copper prices; market focus remains on inventory flows and high-price positioning.