Iron ore main contract rose over 2.00% intraday to 751.50 yuan/ton.

Huatai Securities said South Korea's $1.3 trillion semiconductor strategy equals roughly 7.8x TSMC's $165 billion Arizona investment and could materially alter global industry competition and supply-demand dynamics. Under strong AI-driven demand, expansion of advanced nodes, HBM and advanced packaging capacity should sustain incremental equipment demand; semiconductor equipment vendors may receive long-term structural tailwinds from this decade-spanning investment cycle. Relevant overseas beneficiaries include leaders in lithography, deposition and etch, and coat/develop equipment, plus firms with high memory revenue exposure. Chinese beneficiaries noted include cleaning-equipment and thermal-processing suppliers with operations in South Korea.

Officials have begun reviewing the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA), triggering a countdown to the pact’s potential expiry. Signed by President Trump in his first term and in force for six years, the USMCA underpins nearly $2 trillion of annual trade between the three countries and sets detailed rules across autos, investment protection, intellectual property, digital services and goods from Mexican steel to Canadian dairy. Unlike NAFTA, the treaty contains a sunset clause requiring the parties to begin renewal talks this year; unless reauthorized it will lapse in 2036.