On the morning of November 21st local time, the new session of the Sri Lankan Parliament held its first meeting and elected Axok Langwala as the Speaker. The new session of the Parliament of Sri Lanka held elections on November 14th. The voting results announced by the Sri Lankan Elections Commission on the 15th showed that the party led by President Dissanayake's National People's Power Party won more than two-thirds of the seats in the parliamentary elections, winning the parliamentary elections.

HKEX and Hang Seng Indexes Limited held an opening ceremony at the Hong Kong Financial Hall today to celebrate the official launch of the first jointly named index by HKEX and Hang Seng Indexes - Hang Seng HKEX-Huatai Stock Connect Greater China Index. HKEX Group CEO Bonnie Chan Yi-ting and Hang Seng Bank Executive Director and CEO Caroline Sau Yeng Yim struck the gong to mark the opening. Hang Seng Bank Chairman Rose Lee Wai Lin, HKEX Group Deputy CEO Calvin Yau Ka Yan, and Co-Head of Market Operations Stephanie So Ying Ying, along with Hang Seng Indexes Limited Chairman William Li Man Lung and CEO Wendy Wu Yuen Man, also participated in the gong ceremony. HKEX will continue to collaborate closely with asset managers, issuers, and market participants to develop more new products based on this index, further enriching the product ecosystem of the Stock Connect and making the Hong Kong capital markets more vibrant. (HKEX)

A survey by the South Korean central bank reveals that after the US presidential election, policy risks in the US have become a major concern for local financial professionals and experts in South Korea. In the survey released on Thursday by the South Korean central bank, approximately 56% of respondents are worried about policy changes after the US election. This concern ranks second on the list of risks facing South Korea, only behind the persistent issue of household debt. The South Korean central bank stated that about 80 participants took part in the annual survey conducted from October 29 to November 8, including risk officials, fund managers, and financial researchers. Trump won the US presidential election on November 5, advocating policies such as raising tariffs on trading partners. South Korea's economic growth and financial stability rely heavily on exports, while it is also one of the countries with the highest trade surplus with the US.

As we enter November, the issuance of new funds remains hot, with passive index products becoming major issuers. Data shows that as of now, nearly 40% of the new funds issued in November are passive index funds, significantly surpassing the number of active equity products issued. This trend reflects investors' increasing demand for low-cost, highly transparent investment tools, with passive index products gradually becoming the preferred investment in the market for equity assets. Industry experts believe that the popularity of passive index products mainly stems from their unique product advantages and robust risk control capabilities. Passive index funds have clear styles and transparent holdings, effectively diversifying investment risks and avoiding the risk of "blowout" from individual stocks or industries. Furthermore, with the expansion of product scale and the improvement of the market ecosystem, the liquidity and market capacity of passive index products continue to increase, further enhancing their investment attractiveness. (Securities Times)

Starbucks is considering trade options for its business in China, including selling shares of its Chinese subsidiary. Starbucks is reportedly consulting with advisors on how to strengthen its China operations. (Bloomberg)

On November 21st, according to Peking Aviation News, Capital Airlines under the Hainan Airlines Group further optimized its capacity layout and route network structure based on the winter market demand and characteristics, and opened a new direct flight from Beijing Daxing to Sapporo, Japan on December 28, 2024.

CITIC International published a research report, maintaining a "buy" rating on zto express, noting that its third-quarter EBIT grew 17% year-on-year to 2.8 billion yuan, meeting expectations. The quarterly reported benchmark net income grew only 1% year-on-year to 2.46 billion yuan, believed to be due to a one-time tax refund last year in the third quarter. Amid industry price competition, management lowered the full-year package volume growth guidance, and due to a decline in package volume and unit profit, CITIC International correspondingly lowered its profit forecast for 2024 to 2026 by 5% to 9%, but emphasized that it remains bullish on zto's profit growth strategy and its strong free cash flow capability, lowering the target price from 299 HKD to 271 HKD, corresponding to a forecast PE of about 22 times for 2024.

"Investing 3 million to open a Burger King franchise, no return after a year, Burger King has caused me to lose everything." Speaking of this, Huifang (alias) choked up. In recent days, many franchisees have jointly exposed that Burger King and franchisees signed 'tyrannical clauses', with investors suffering huge losses leading to no return. Furthermore, during the store opening period, there were issues such as distributing expired, low-quality food, and unreasonable penalties from the official side. (Blue Whale News)

Hong Kong stocks closed at midday, the Hang Seng Index fell by 0.13%, the Hang Seng Tech Index fell by 0.57%. Kuaishou dropped by over 10%, XPeng Autos dropped by over 4%; Kingdee Int'l, Lenovo Group rose by over 3%.

U.S. prosecutors on Wednesday told a judge that Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet, must sell its Chrome browser to restore competition in its dominant online search market and take a series of other corrective measures, including sharing data and search results with competitors. This change would essentially subject Google to strict regulation over the next 10 years, subjecting it to oversight by the Washington federal court, which had ruled Google maintained an illegal monopoly in online search and related advertising. The court filing submitted Wednesday evening expanded on earlier content, with prosecutors believing that this would weaken Google's monopoly position. Google at the time called these suggestions radical, saying they would harm U.S. consumers and businesses, undermine the U.S.'s competitiveness in the field of artificial intelligence. The company said it will appeal. The U.S. Department of Justice and a coalition of states hope U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta will end Google's annual payments of billions of dollars to Apple and other device suppliers as its exclusive agreements for tablet and smart phone default search engines. Google will have the opportunity to submit its own proposal in December, although President-elect Trump and the next DOJ antitrust chief may intervene and make changes.