Hormuz Strike Holds Oil Volumes Up While Asia Tech Reprices AI Costs

The overnight story is two markets moving against each other in ways that matter for this readership specifically. Iran struck a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, the 33-kilometre chokepoint through which roughly 20 percent of global oil passes, and oil initially spiked before dropping as transits kept moving. The WSJ reports Tehran estimates a $40 billion windfall from reopening the strait with Gulf state cooperation, which tells you the attack was a political signal, not an operational shutdown. A Singapore trade-finance lender re-checks its Hormuz-exposed letters of credit before Monday open. Separately, Asian technology stocks fell hard after Apple and Microsoft raised product prices, with Bloomberg reporting memory-cost concern driving the selloff. Two Chinese hedge funds publicly called the AI rally a super-bubble, a phrase that carries more weight when it comes from mainland managers who have been riding it. The weekend-read column by Charmaine Lo, on the gap between regulatory frameworks and the people inside them, is worth the five minutes for any compliance officer sitting with those two signals at once. Venezuela's twin earthquakes killed at least 188 people, adding a humanitarian layer to an already volatile geopolitical week. Watch whether oil transits through Hormuz hold through Saturday; any disruption before Monday open changes the HK equity open materially.