{"id":66445,"date":"2026-08-13T02:08:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T06:08:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/bok-resumes-gold-investment-ymtc-breaks-into-top-3-flash-suppliers\/66445\/"},"modified":"2026-08-13T02:08:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T06:08:15","slug":"bok-resumes-gold-investment-ymtc-breaks-into-top-3-flash-suppliers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/bok-resumes-gold-investment-ymtc-breaks-into-top-3-flash-suppliers\/66445\/","title":{"rendered":"BOK Resumes Gold Investment; YMTC Breaks Into Top 3 Flash Suppliers"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Bank of Korea (<a href=\"\/stock\/BOK\">BOK<\/a>)<\/strong> returned to the <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/metal\/gold\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"gold price today\">gold<\/a> market for the first time in <strong>13 years<\/strong>, disclosing a <strong>$250.4 million<\/strong> stake in the <strong>SPDR Gold Trust (<a href=\"\/stock\/GLD\">GLD<\/a>)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC)<\/strong> captured <strong>14%<\/strong> of the global NAND flash market in Q2 2026, becoming the world&#39;s <strong>third-largest supplier<\/strong> by shipment volume.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hysan Development (<a href=\"\/stock\/0014.HK\">0014.HK<\/a>)<\/strong> reported a <strong>7.4%<\/strong> rise in first-half underlying profit to <strong>HK$1.11 billion<\/strong>, driven by residential sales and luxury retail resilience.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Saudi Arabia&#39;s<\/strong> monthly inflation ticked up <strong>0.2%<\/strong> in July, maintaining a stable annual rate of <strong>1.8%<\/strong> despite global energy price volatility.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Russia&#39;s Defence Ministry<\/strong> reported downing <strong>362 Ukrainian drones<\/strong> overnight, marking one of the largest coordinated aerial attacks of the conflict.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<h2>Central Banks and Commodities<\/h2>\n<p>The <strong>Bank of Korea (<a href=\"\/stock\/BOK\">BOK<\/a>)<\/strong> has ended a decade-long hiatus from gold investments, revealing a <strong>$250.4 million<\/strong> position in the <strong>SPDR Gold Trust (<a href=\"\/stock\/GLD\">GLD<\/a>)<\/strong>. This move, disclosed in a recent SEC filing, signals a strategic shift toward diversifying foreign reserves amid heightened <em>geopolitical uncertainty and inflationary pressures<\/em>. While the purchase represents a small fraction of Korea&#39;s <strong>$427.95 billion<\/strong> in reserves, analysts suggest it may precede further acquisitions of physical bullion.<\/p>\n<h2>Semiconductor Market Shifts<\/h2>\n<p>China\u2019s <strong>YMTC<\/strong> has achieved a major milestone by breaking into the global top three NAND flash-memory suppliers for the first time. According to <strong>Counterpoint Research<\/strong>, YMTC&#39;s shipment volume reached a <strong>14%<\/strong> market share in Q2 2026, narrowly overtaking Japan&#39;s <strong>Kioxia<\/strong>. Despite the volume surge, the company remains fifth in revenue rankings, as its product mix is heavily weighted toward <em>lower-margin consumer electronics<\/em> rather than high-value enterprise AI storage.<\/p>\n<h2>Real Estate and Corporate Earnings<\/h2>\n<p>Hong Kong\u2019s leading Causeway Bay landlord, <strong>Hysan Development (<a href=\"\/stock\/0014.HK\">0014.HK<\/a>)<\/strong>, saw its first-half earnings climb <strong>7.4%<\/strong> year-on-year. The developer benefited from the sale of residential units at its <strong>Bamboo Grove<\/strong> project and a <strong>1.4%<\/strong> increase in retail turnover. Management noted that the <strong>Lee Garden Eight<\/strong> project remains on track for completion this quarter, which is expected to further bolster the company&#39;s <em>premium commercial portfolio<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h2>Global Macro and Geopolitics<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Saudi Arabia&#39;s<\/strong> Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by <strong>0.2%<\/strong> month-on-month in July 2026, keeping the annual inflation rate at a modest <strong>1.8%<\/strong>. The stability is attributed to effective domestic price controls, even as food and beverage costs showed slight upward momentum. Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions escalated as <strong>Russia<\/strong> claimed to have intercepted <strong>362 Ukrainian drones<\/strong> in a massive overnight operation, highlighting the <em>increasing scale of drone warfare<\/em> and its persistent threat to regional infrastructure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Bank of Korea (BOK) returned to the gold market for the first time in 13 years, disclosing a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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