February 25 Morning News Summary

【Morning News Highlights】 [Taoguba]

1. Premier Li Qiang chaired a State Council executive meeting on February 24. The meeting emphasized the need to further release the demand for silver-haired consumer spending, enhance consumption capacity, leverage policies like consumption subsidies to drive growth, and create new scenarios and formats for silver-haired consumption; to visit frontline enterprises and communities to understand their needs and urgent concerns, and to implement more targeted policies to continuously stimulate market vitality and improve people’s livelihoods.
2. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce responded to questions about recent U.S. tariff adjustments, stating that China is closely monitoring and will conduct a comprehensive assessment of U.S. measures. Future adjustments to countermeasures regarding U.S. fentanyl tariffs and reciprocal tariffs will be decided as appropriate. China is willing to engage in frank discussions with the U.S. during the upcoming 6th China-U.S. Economic and Trade Consultations.
3. To maintain ample liquidity in the banking system, on February 25, 2026, the People’s Bank of China will conduct a 600 billion yuan Medium-term Lending Facility (MLF) operation with a fixed amount, interest rate bidding, and multiple price levels, with a one-year maturity.
4. A senior U.S. government official stated that DeepSeek’s AI model is reportedly trained using NVIDIA’s most advanced AI chips, which may violate U.S. export controls. In response, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on February 24 reiterated China’s principled stance on the issue of U.S. chips exported to China.
5. The Shanghai Gold Exchange adjusted margin requirements and daily price limits for some contracts. Starting from the close on February 24, margin ratios for Au (T+D), mAu (T+D) were reduced from 21% to 18%, and daily price limits from 20% to 17%. For Ag (T+D), margin ratio was lowered from 27% to 24%, and daily limit from 26% to 23%.
6. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced on February 24 that during the 9-day Spring Festival holiday, there were 596 million domestic trips nationwide, an increase of 95 million compared to the 8-day holiday in 2025; total domestic tourism expenditure reached 803.483 billion yuan, up 126.481 billion yuan from 2025. Both tourist numbers and spending hit record highs.
7. Changxin Bochuang announced plans to acquire a 93.81% stake in Shanghai Honghui Guanglian Communication Technology Co., Ltd., expanding into the upstream of the optical communication industry chain; Dongyangguang announced plans to acquire control of Dongshu No.1, a vehicle set up for the acquisition of Qinhuai Data; Tongwei Co., Ltd. announced plans to purchase 100% of Lihao Qingneng, with trading suspension; KapYun announced the termination of the acquisition of Nanning Taike, a storage company focused on high-end storage products.
8. Sugon announced that its net profit for 2025 was 2.113 billion yuan, an increase of 11% year-on-year; Q4 2025 net profit was 1.147 billion yuan, a quarter-on-quarter increase of 382%.
9. Enlight Media announced that the total box office revenue for the film “Flying Past Life 3” was approximately 2.926 billion yuan, with operating income from the film around 43 to 53 million yuan.
10. Jiazexineng announced that its green chemical business is still in the early stages and not yet commercially viable.
11. Baida Precision announced that its robotics business accounts for a very small proportion of the company’s total revenue.
12. The three major U.S. stock indices closed higher on Tuesday, with the Nasdaq up 1.04%, the S&P 500 up 0.77%, and the Dow up 0.76%. Most large tech stocks rose, with AMD up over 8%, Intel up over 5%, and Thomson Reuters up over 11%.
13. Former U.S. President Donald Trump will deliver the State of the Union address at 9 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, mainly focusing on domestic issues. The White House spokesperson said he will propose an ambitious agenda and announce several new policies.
14. According to multiple media reports on the 23rd, to facilitate the deployment of dedicated satellite networks for AI data centers, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk envisions launching satellites into Earth’s orbit via electromagnetic catapults from the Moon.
15. Federal Reserve Governor Cook stated that the central bank may not be able to respond to rising unemployment caused by AI. Chicago Fed President Evans believes that the defeat of Trump’s tariffs could help cool inflation. Boston Fed President Collins expects interest rates to remain “for some time.”
16. The World Association of Large Enterprises reported a slight rebound in the U.S. Consumer Confidence Index in February, with respondents becoming more optimistic about the economy, employment, and income prospects.
17. AI startup Anthropic launched intelligent AI tools aimed at automating investment banking, HR, and other fields. These tools, developed in collaboration with financial data provider FactSet Research Systems, caused a rally in U.S. software stocks.
18. EU Trade Commissioner urged the European Parliament to approve the U.S.-EU trade agreement in March. It is expected that the U.S. will narrow the scope of steel and aluminum derivative tariffs to ease transatlantic tensions.
19. Apple announced that it will purchase over 100 million advanced chips produced by TSMC’s Arizona factory by 2026. The first touch-screen MacBooks are expected to be released this fall, featuring the iPhone’s Dynamic Island in the center of the display.
20. Reports indicate that Meta has reached an AI device procurement agreement with AMD, with AMD agreeing to sell up to $60 billion worth of AI chips to Meta. AMD will issue performance-based warrants to Meta Platforms, allowing purchase of up to 160 million AMD common shares.
21. A recent academic study led by Harvard Business School professors found that AI can predict 71% of active fund trades through machine learning.
22. The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service issued a statement on the 24th, stating that the UK and France have realized that Ukraine’s armed forces cannot achieve victory over Russia based on current developments. Some believe that if Kyiv possessed nuclear or at least “dirty” bombs, they could negotiate more favorable terms to end hostilities.
23. Twelve U.S. F-22 fighters departed from the UK en route to Israel on the 24th local time. One returned due to technical issues, while the remaining eleven arrived in Israel and were deployed at an airbase in southern Israel.

【Major Reminders】

① There is one new stock offering today: Gude Electric (301680) on the ChiNext.
② The 21st session of the 14th National People’s Congress Standing Committee will be held in Beijing on February 25-26.
③ Hong Kong will release a new fiscal budget on February 25.
④ Samsung will launch the Galaxy S26 series with AI features on February 25.
⑤ German Chancellor Merz will pay an official visit to China from February 25-26.
⑥ The Germany-China Economic Advisory Committee will hold a symposium on February 25.
⑦ NVIDIA will release its earnings report after U.S. Eastern Time on February 25 (early morning Beijing time).
⑧ Today, 300 billion yuan of 1-year Medium-term Lending Facility (MLF) and 400 billion yuan of 14-day reverse repos will mature.
⑨ U.S. weekly EIA crude oil inventory data will be released today.

【Overnight Global News】

1. U.S. military deploys 11 F-22 fighters to southern Israel.
2. White House states that Trump’s preferred approach to Iran is always diplomacy.
3. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ravanchi said Iran is ready to reach an agreement with the U.S. as soon as possible.
4. Federal Reserve’s Balkin said inflation data has remained above target but is expected to fall back to 2%.
5. Federal Reserve’s Collins indicated that current interest rates are likely to be maintained “for some time.”
6. Federal Reserve Governor Waller said the U.S. is advancing the deployment of AI in regional and headquarters banks to apply this breakthrough technology.
7. U.S. Special Envoy Vitkoff will visit Geneva to meet with Ukrainian negotiators.
8. The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Russia and the UAE, listing four individuals and three entities on the “Specially Designated Nationals” list, involving Russia and the UAE.
9. Zelensky said he has not yet decided whether to run in the next presidential election.
10. Apple’s touch-screen MacBook Pro models are expected to launch this fall.
11. Meta Platforms spokesperson Andy Stone said there is currently no stablecoin from Meta.
12. Reports suggest Stripe is considering a full or partial acquisition of PayPal.
13. Warner Bros. Discovery has increased its acquisition bid for Paramount to $31 per share in cash.
14. PwC US will deploy Anthropic’s enterprise AI plugins.
15. The three major U.S. stock indices all closed higher, with the Nasdaq up 1.04%, S&P 500 up 0.77%, and Dow up 0.76%. Major European indices mostly rose, with Germany’s DAX up 0.04%.
16. International crude oil futures settled down 1%. WTI April futures fell 1.03%, Brent April futures fell 1.01%.
17. COMEX gold futures down 1.12%, COMEX silver futures up 0.57%.
18. Citibank predicts short-term copper prices will rise to $14,000 per ton within three months.
19. JPMorgan Chase CEO said the current U.S. financial industry resembles the period before the 2008 financial crisis.

This content involves information and data from public sources online, for reference only, not investment advice.