

**Hong Kong's securities regulator overhauled rules for leveraged and inverse exchange-traded products, allowing daily leverage adjustments to prevent market disruptions during periods of heavy trading.** The Securities and Futures Commission on Thursday issued a revised circular requiring all leveraged and inverse products whose capacity is highly sensitive to market conditions to adopt a flexible leverage structure, enabling daily adjustments within existing caps of 2 times for leveraged products and minus 2 times for inverse products. "The new framework gives product providers greater capacity to manage their products during periods of high trading volume," the SFC said in the circular. Providers can lower target leverage multiples when necessary, with the next trading day's leverage disclosed after the daily close. The adjustment mechanism is designed to reinforce that leveraged and inverse products are single-day instruments not suitable for holding beyond one trading session, the regulator said. The SFC first authorized leveraged and inverse products in Hong Kong in 2016, and the market has since grown to include more than a dozen such products tracking Hong Kong, China and overseas equity indices. Total assets under management in Hong Kong's ETF market exceeded HK$500 billion as of the end of 2025, according to SFC data, with leveraged and inverse products representing a small but fast-growing segment. The revised circular comes as the SFC tightens oversight of complex retail investment products while maintaining Hong Kong's competitiveness as a listing venue for ETF issuers. The city competes with Singapore and Shanghai for cross-border ETF listings, and the SFC has been updating its product rules to attract more issuers while managing risk. The flexible leverage structure allows product providers to dynamically adjust exposure during volatile periods, reducing the risk of forced deleveraging that can amplify market moves. During the 2020 market turmoil, several leveraged products in global markets faced operational strain as volatility surged, prompting regulators worldwide to review their frameworks. The daily disclosure requirement improves transparency, giving investors clear information about the leverage multiple they are trading each day. The SFC said the changes take effect immediately for new product authorizations, with existing products required to comply within a transition period. Hong Kong's ETF market has seen increased product innovation in recent years, with the SFC authorizing futures-based, leveraged and inverse, and commodity ETFs under its mutual recognition framework with other jurisdictions. The regulatory update aligns Hong Kong with practices in the United States and Europe, where some leveraged ETF issuers already employ dynamic leverage mechanisms. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.

SK Hynix Inc. is recruiting design engineers in San Jose for 3D stacked DRAM-on-Logic, a packaging technology that stacks memory directly atop logic chips to overcome bandwidth constraints limiting on-device AI in smartphones. "Memory and logic integration is the breakthrough needed to maximize AI performance within existing architecture limits," SK Hynix's development head said at the TSMC Technology Symposium in April, outlining the technology as one of three strategic pillars alongside custom HBM and high-bandwidth flash. The approach replaces traditional Package-on-Package packaging, which stacks two chips vertically, with a 3D architecture that shortens interconnect distance and increases data-transfer channels within the same footprint. Apple's A19 Pro, the current flagship smartphone processor, tops out at 75.8GB/s of memory bandwidth — a figure that analysts say is insufficient for real-time AI inference on device. SK Hynix, which dominates the HBM market with roughly two-thirds of Nvidia's HBM4 supply for the Vera Rubin platform, is extending its memory leadership into edge computing. The move positions the company to capture demand from Apple and Qualcomm as smartphone makers race to deliver AI features that run locally rather than in the cloud. **Why Memory Bandwidth Became the Bottleneck** Smartphone chipsets from Apple, Qualcomm, MediaTek and Samsung have made significant gains in AI compute capability, but memory bandwidth has not kept pace. The traditional PoP packaging used in mobile application processors limits the number of data channels between DRAM and the logic chip, creating a bottleneck for large language models that require rapid data movement. SK Hynix's 3D stacked DRAM-on-Logic addresses this by placing memory directly on top of the processor, connected through thousands of vertical interconnects rather than the limited edge connections in PoP. The result is higher bandwidth at lower power — a combination essential for battery-powered devices running AI workloads. The company has formed a partnership with an unnamed US customer to commercialize the technology. Industry analysts point to Apple as the likely partner, given the iPhone maker's reported shift from InFO-PoP to Wafer-Level Multi-Chip Module packaging for its upcoming A20 Pro chip. **Rivals Race to Solve the Memory Problem** SK Hynix is not alone in pursuing this opportunity. Qualcomm is developing 3D DRAM for its Neural Processing Units in partnership with Chinese memory maker CXMT. Samsung is working on Low Latency Wide DRAM that mimics HBM's design for mobile devices, targeting 150 percent higher bandwidth than LPDDR5X. Huawei is also exploring HBM-style memory for smartphones, though the technology's high cost and low yields remain obstacles. The HBM market is projected to reach $54.6 billion in 2026, according to Bank of America, and SK Hynix's expansion into edge AI memory represents a natural extension of its dominance in that space. The company's Yongin Y1 factory began equipment procurement in July, while its Cheongju NAND line is slated for roughly 100 trillion won in expansion investment. HBM4E 12-layer samples have already been delivered to key customers. For investors, the question is timing. Apple's iPhone 18 Pro has reportedly entered mass production, making it unlikely that 3D stacked DRAM will appear in the A20 Pro. A debut in 2027 or later is more probable. SK Hynix shares, listed on the Korea Exchange and recently debuting in the US market via a $26.5 billion listing, give investors direct exposure to a company building its business at the center of both cloud and edge AI memory supply. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.

Gold futures traded at $4,056.80 an ounce, up 0.16% on the session, as oil-led inflation concerns limited the metal's recovery from a sharp June selloff, according to ING. "Oil-led inflation fears are capping gold's price recovery," ING analysts said in a note published July 24, pointing to rising energy costs as a headwind for precious metals. Gold has struggled to regain momentum after falling from an all-time high above $5,300 an ounce in January to around $4,100 by late June, a decline of more than 20%. The LBMA Gold Price PM fix, which underpins the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD), has tracked the broader pullback. GLD, the largest gold-backed ETF with $130 billion in total assets, closed at $371.52 on the NYSE, down 2% on the day and 6.73% year-to-date. The fund's 52-week range spans $300.96 to $509.70. The inflation concern stems from rising crude prices, with WTI crude holding above $89 a barrel and Brent near $97.60. Higher energy costs feed into broader inflation measures, potentially keeping the Federal Reserve on a hawkish path. June CPI data showed a 0.4% month-over-month decline — steeper than the 0.1% drop expected — while core CPI held flat versus a 0.2% consensus estimate. The mixed inflation picture has done little to clarify the Fed's next move, with the next policy decision due in September. Gold's $4,000 level has emerged as a key support zone. The metal reclaimed $4,040 on July 21 after testing the round number earlier in the month, according to COMEX data. A sustained break below $4,000 could accelerate selling, while a recovery above $4,100 would signal renewed buying interest. The next catalyst for gold prices is the July 31 Federal Reserve meeting, where any shift in forward guidance on rates could determine whether the metal holds support or extends its decline. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.