July 3 — After Thursday talks with Japanese prime minister Takaichi, Indian prime minister Modi said India and Japan will strengthen cooperation on critical minerals. Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said such bilateral cooperation should help deepen regional understanding and stability, must not target or harm third parties, and should not form exclusive "small circles" that provoke confrontation. He added maintaining global production and supply‑chain stability and security is a shared re

South Korea's KOSPI bounced after two trading days of nearly 10% declines, climbing as much as 5.5% on Friday; Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix each rallied more than 9%. A surge in KOSPI futures prompted the Korea Exchange to briefly suspend program trading. Foreign funds and retail investors were net sellers of KOSPI stocks while domestic funds increased holdings. Reports that ANTHROPIC PBC is in talks with Samsung to co-develop custom AI chips, together with elevated expectations ahead of Samsung's preliminary results, underpinned gains. Fibonacci Asset Management CEO Jung In-yoon said the ANTHROPIC-Samsung talks are early-stage and likely to have limited near-term earnings impact but are strategically positive for Samsung's AI-chip positioning and for Asia's role in the AI semiconductor supply chain.

WMO said El Nifio has emerged in the tropical Pacific and is expected to rapidly strengthen over the coming months, raising the likelihood of heatwaves, droughts and heavy rainfall across multiple regions. Multi-model ensemble forecasts show markedly higher sea surface temperatures in the central‑eastern equatorial Pacific and indicate El Nifio is likely to develop into a strong event in Jul‑Sep 2026, with further strengthening into Northern Hemisphere autumn and global spread of impacts.