According to BlockBeats, on August 19th, South Korean media reported that foreign investors, who had previously driven the rebound in the South Korean stock market, began large-scale selling due to a sharp rise in long-term US and Japanese government bond yields. On August 19th, foreign investors net sold 3.485 trillion won in the South Korean securities market, institutional investors net sold 1.324 trillion won, while individuals net bought 4.633 trillion won.

Foreign investors had been net buyers for five consecutive trading days from August 11 to 18, with a cumulative net purchase of 8.129 trillion won. However, the amount sold on August 19 alone was equivalent to 42.9% of the net purchases made in the previous five days. Recently, foreign investment has been highly concentrated in the semiconductor sector, with approximately 87% of the net foreign purchases from August 12 to 18 flowing into semiconductors, primarily Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

The shift in foreign capital flows is related to the sharp rise in long-term interest rates in the US and Japan. The yield on the 30-year US Treasury note rose to 5.337% intraday on the 18th, a new high since 2007; Japanese long-term interest rates also rose rapidly. This rise in US Treasury yields is more attributed to increased supply of Treasury bonds, rising term premiums, and increased corporate bond issuance by large technology companies driven by AI data center investments, rather than the market re-betting on a Federal Reserve rate hike.

Analysts believe that if long-term interest rates continue to rise, South Korean semiconductor stocks, which have recently seen concentrated foreign investment, may continue to face profit-taking; if interest rates stabilize, funds may flow back into the semiconductor sector, which has higher earnings visibility. Kiwoom Securities researcher Han Ji-young believes that subsequent macroeconomic uncertainties may increase stock market volatility, but the likelihood of a repeat of the abnormal deterioration in funding and sharp decline seen in July is low.

According to BlockBeats, Unitree Robotics successfully completed its IPO on August 19th. Founder Wang Xingxing, Sequoia Capital's Shen Nanpeng, and renowned singer Wang Leehom attended a thank-you banquet. In his speech, Wang Leehom reminisced about his experience collaborating with Unitree Robotics on a humanoid robot stage performance.

Wang Leehom said that when he first visited Unitree Robotics more than a year ago, he hoped that the company would design a mechanical piano that could move around at the concert venue. However, Wang Xingxing responded: "We don't make pianos, but we make humanoid robots." After that, the Unitree team input thousands of movements into the robot through motion capture and tried to let the robot participate in the complex choreography of the entire concert.

During the final rehearsal, the robot experienced a gradual slowdown in its rhythm. Wang Leehom stated that the Unitree Engineering team subsequently worked through the night to write new code, synchronizing the robot's timecode with the lighting system, and completed the adjustments before the official start of the performance, ultimately ensuring a successful show. He added that when faced with tasks they had never done before, the team repeatedly responded, "We haven't done this before, but we can definitely do it."

Wang Leehom also mentioned that the day after the performance, Musk retweeted the video and commented "Impressive." At the thank-you banquet, Wang Leehom said, "The financial world is in an uproar today too," and congratulated Wang Xingxing and the Yushu team.