USTs flash warning; stocks under pressure; GOOGL's flagship AI model Gemini 4 nears launch | Daily News Recap

0924 | Dolphin Research Focus

🐬 Macro / Sector

1. UST yields jumped as US PMI beat, a 5Y auction drew weak demand, and elevated oil rekindled inflation worries, pushing the 5Y above 5% for the first time since 2007. The 10Y surged and markets repriced a higher probability of an Oct rate hike.With the global risk-free rate resetting higher, APAC and Hong Kong softened alongside broader risk-off sentiment. Investors traded a 'higher-for-longer' rates view, and Hong Kong, US, and A-shares fell in tandem.

🐬 Stocks

1. $Alphabet(GOOGL.US)

Google rolled out two text-to-speech models, Gemini 3.8 Flash TTS and Gemini 3.8 Flash‑Lite TTS. Flash TTS targets creative dubbing and multi-character dialogue, while Flash‑Lite emphasizes low cost and high concurrency and supports 130+ languages.The company also disclosed that flagship Gemini 4 has entered post-training, with an early release expected 'well before' year-end. This signals a faster cadence on premium AI features.

2. $SpaceX(SPCX.US)

Per a regulatory filing, President Gwynne Shotwell plans to sell 342.17k shares for proceeds of roughly $51.96 mn, marking the first executive sale since the company listed, executed under a preset 10b5‑1 plan. Management said the sale is for personal financial planning and not a bearish signal.However, coming just before Starship’s orbital test, it highlights debate over a rich valuation and could weigh on near-term sentiment.

3. $Meta Platforms(META.US)

At Meta Connect, the company unveiled lightweight Meta VR Glasses priced at $1,299.99 and weighing ~100g, powered by a Qualcomm chip and integrated with Muse AI, with launch targeted for spring 2027. The split-unit design significantly cuts weight and targets Apple’s Vision Pro.This bridges AI with immersive hardware and signals a shift from bulky headsets toward everyday eyewear.

4. $TENCENT(00700.HK)

Tencent’s QClaw team announced that the local AI agent QClaw will cease operations at 00:00 on 2026.12.24. New user registration ends immediately, with data migration supported to WorkBuddy and credit subsidies offered.This is not an exit from the PC Agent track but a resource consolidation to route traffic into flagship WorkBuddy. It underscores intensifying competition among AI agents and a faster shake-out.

5. $Alphabet(GOOGL.US)

The head of Google DeepMind said flagship Gemini 4 is in post-training, with early versions planned 'well before' year-end to catch up with OpenAI and Anthropic. Google needs a new flagship to fix high-end reasoning gaps.Yet post-training carries uncertainty around potential underperformance and delays.

6. $XIAOMI-W(01810.HK)

Xiaomi’s Fall launch unveiled Xiaomi 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max, powered by the MiMo large model. Hardware upgrades include a privacy display and Leica dual 200MP main cameras, with AI capabilities enhanced across the lineup.AI smartphones are moving into deep hardware and on-device model integration. Xiaomi is making on-device LLMs a flagship selling point, fueling an AI feature arms race in handsets.

7. $BABA-W(09988.HK)

Qwen released the Qwen‑Audio‑3.1 suite, launching five audio models in one go. It also cut prices across voice models, with ASR down as much as 95% and TTS down 70%.China’s voice-model price war is intensifying, sharply lowering developer onboarding costs and escalating rivalry. This will pressure peers to cut prices and iterate faster.