Iranian President PEZESHKIAN urged wider use of local currencies in BRICS trade and called on the BRICS bank to boost infrastructure financing.

The first batch of ETFs tracking the CSI New Energy Metals 50 index is set to be filed, with product managers including several large public mutual fund houses. The index targets listed companies linked to lithium, cobalt, nickel, rare earths and other metals used in new-energy applications. It uses the CSI All Share as the universe and is free-float adjusted market-cap weighted; selection balances liquidity and thematic purity. As of Aug. 12 the 50 constituents’ aggregate free-float market value exceeded RMB1 tln. Sector concentration is highest in rare earths, lithium, potash (salt-lake) producers, battery materials and cobalt-nickel. Top-10 weights are led by Northern Rare Earth at just over 9%, followed by Salt Lake, Zangge Mining, HUAYOU NICKEL BRAND, Ganfeng Lithium, Xiamen Tungsten, TTANQT LITHIUM, China Rare Earth, GEM and Zhongkuang Resources.

Markets price in roughly a 90% chance of a Fed rate hike next week.