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China says it will pump $54 billion into banks and insurers — but their stocks still fell

With a bigger capital cushion, financial institutions may also be asked to do more to mobilize resources in capital markets, analysts say.

China’s finance ministry is leading a smaller-than-expected $54 billion capital injection into state-owned banks and insurers, as Beijing seeks to foster growth with restrained stimulus.

Three state lenders and five insurers will get a combined 360 billion yuan ($53.6 billion) from state institutions, led by the Ministry of Finance and the country’s tobacco giant. It’s the first time that Beijing has extended recapitalization to insurers, as stress in the country’s financial system spreads. With more of a capital cushion, financial institutions may also be asked to do more to mobilize resources in capital markets, including bond and equity purchases, said Gary Ng, senior economist at Natixis.

The recapitalization was smaller in scale than markets had anticipated for these financial institutions, according to Citibank. “This downsized package underscores the healthier capital positions of Chinese insurers, indicating an overall lower urgency for aggressive capital replenishment.”

Hong Kong-listed shares of the banks and insurers slumped Monday, underperforming the broader market. The Hang Seng Index fell less than 1%, while Agricultural Bank of China and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dropped 2.7% and 2.3%, respectively. China Taiping Insurance lost almost 4%, while People’s Insurance Company of China and China Life Insurance each fell more than 2%.

The moves build on a 500 billion yuan capital injection into four major state banks last year and a pledge in March to issue 300 billion yuan in special treasury bonds this year to replenish capital at large state lenders. China’s banking sector has been grinding through a multiyear margin compression, as Beijing pushes lenders to keep credit cheap for struggling borrowers. The net interest margins — the spread between what banks earn on loans and pay on deposits — fell to record lows this year.

Beijing is preparing lenders to finance its next strategic investment cycle, “particularly the massive capital requirements of AI and advanced technology,” said Han Shen Lin, China country director at The Asia Group. “China is effectively using state capital to strengthen the banking system’s shock absorbers.”

Injection details

Agricultural Bank and ICBC, two of the country’s largest state banks, plan to raise up to 160 billion yuan and 100 billion yuan, respectively, through private A-share placements to a group of institutions, including the finance ministry, and China National Tobacco Corp and its subsidiaries. Proceeds will be used entirely to replenish capital, according to their statements on Sunday.

The Export-Import Bank of China will get a direct 30 billion yuan injection from the finance ministry, aimed at strengthening its ability to “provide funds to the real economy and withstand potential risks.”

Falling market interest rates have limited banks’ ability to rebuild capital through retained earnings, making external injections critical, said Bruce Pang, a member of the Chief Economist Forum in China, adding that the state push would strengthen lending power at large state-owned banks, allowing “higher-quality” financial support for the economy and the priority sector.

The recapitalization also gives banks room to accelerate the disposal and write off of non-performing loans, offsetting “potential asset quality pressure down the road,” said Citibank analyst July Zhang.

“The capital pressure on China’s big banks could start easing,” Zhang said, as policymakers prioritize quality growth and ease pressure on banks to chase fast loan growth, while credit demand remains weak.

China’s insurers have seen solvency ratios deteriorate as persistently low rates squeeze profitability. The solvency ratio of the insurance sector dropped to 180.6% at the end of the second quarter, from 204.5% last year, though higher than the regulatory requirement of 100%.

Lack of credit demand

The capital injections are likely to have “only a very limited short-term impact on the economy, said Larry Hu, chief China economist at Macquarie, as the binding constraint on bank lending is weak credit demand, rather than a lack of bank capital.

Growth has faltered further in the world’s second-largest economy into the third quarter this year. Beijing’s policy tone has shifted to acknowledging “difficulties and challenges” in the economy, a marked shift from earlier language describing growth as “better than expected,” Hu said.

Fiscal support has picked up in response, with faster government bond issuance and a push toward the infrastructure projects, Hu said. But he doesn’t expect a major stimulus push. “We expect policymakers to do just enough to meet this year’s growth target,” he said. “Incremental stimulus should be sufficient.”

Technologies

U.S. Energy Secretary Wright says Iran nuclear deal may never happen

Iran warned of faster, heavier retaliation against U.S. attacks while acknowledging the war’s mounting toll on its economy.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Sunday said the U.S. may not reach an elusive deal to constrain Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, as the U.S.-Iran conflict enters its seventh month.

“There may not be a nuclear agreement. It may be simply destroying their capabilities to do it,” Wright said on ABC News’ “This Week.” “An agreement may await the next administration in Iran. We simply don’t know that.”

Trump has repeatedly said preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is a central objective of the U.S. campaign. He has also sought a negotiated deal with Iran throughout the war, which has sent energy prices soaring worldwide.

Wright’s comments suggest the administration may pursue its goal of preventing an Iranian nuclear weapon without reaching a negotiated nuclear agreement.

Pressed on whether Wright’s comments mean the U.S. will continue striking Iran when it attempts to rebuild its nuclear infrastructure, the energy secretary said, “You have to destroy their capabilities to do it.”

“We are degrading their capacity to develop nuclear weapons and ultimately to deliver them if they develop them,” he said. “It is a 47-year-long effort. This is not trivial, but the United States will get the job done and we will work in cooperation with our allies in the region.”

Asked about his comments again later during an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Wright said President Donald Trump’s preference “is always to have a negotiated settlement and not use a military solution unless absolutely necessary.”

“The biggest role of our military in the region right now is to stop the export of any Iranian crude or crude-related products, natural gas, whatever,” he said. “We are strangling their economy to try to bring either a change in policy from the existing regime or a new regime.”

Iran threatens the U.S.

Iran’s “proportionate responses” to U.S. attacks are over, the country’s parliament speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Sunday, while acknowledging the economic impact of the war.

“If they haven’t understood by now, they should understand before it’s too late that the rules of the game have changed and that from now on, any violation of Iran’s interests and security will receive a ‘faster, heavier, and more painful’ response,” Ghalibaf said in a post on Telegram.

But Ghalibaf added that alongside the military conflict, Iran faces severe economic pressures.

“Severe fluctuations in the exchange rate, inflation, unemployment, and market management are fundamental challenges that have put serious pressure on people’s livelihoods,” Ghalibaf said.

He also stressed the need to rely more on domestic production and use technology to “devise short-term and permanent solutions.”

Ghalibaf’s remarks come after U.S. forces struck three Iranian crude oil carriers. U.S. Central Command said it permanently disabled one crude oil carrier off the coast of Kharg Island and one near Jask. Another oil tanker was attacked in the Gulf of Oman.

Mohsen Rezaei, the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, in Sunday said Tehran plans to announce a new restriction zone outside the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported. The restriction zone will include areas in the Gulf, he said.

CENTCOM said the attacks were in retaliation for ballistic missiles the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched toward two Navy warships in the region. According to CENTCOM, a U.S. aircraft carrier and guided-missile destroyer successfully evaded multiple attacks, and no American personnel were harmed.

“Let the message to the IRGC be clear: If you shoot at two of our ships, we will impose an even higher economic cost —taking out three of yours,” Admiral Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander, said in a statement Saturday. “We will not hesitate to defend American forces, and if necessary, destroy Iran’s limited and exposed oil fleet.”

Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth later wrote in a post on X: “It’s simple: if Iran shoots at U.S. ships, we will destroy (and sink) their oil tankers. All they have to do is not shoot at @USNavy.”

Iran is the third-largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and exported 90% of its crude via Kharg Island before the war. Flows have been disrupted by a U.S. blockade of Iranian oil exports, which began in mid-April.

The conflict between Iran and the U.S. has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for the world’s oil supply before the war began on Feb. 28 with American and Israeli airstrikes.

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened in June to seize Kharg Island as the U.S. continued military strikes against Iran. Most recently, on Aug. 31, he posted an artificial intelligence-generated video of Kharg Island being blown up.

Tightening sanctions

The strike on the oil tankers came a day after the Treasury Department announced sanctions against a small Turkish investment bank and two of its subsidiaries, which the U.S. accuses of facilitating funds for an arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

The measures are part of sweeping sanctions the Trump administration launched in late August targeting Iran’s access to digital assets, advanced technology procurement, gold reserves, commercial aviation and shipping.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said late last month that the country’s trade has fallen sharply.

Iran’s gross domestic product is estimated to have contracted by 2.7% in the year ending March, according to the World Bank, citing economic disruption from last year’s widespread protests and intensified hostilities in the region.

Inflation surged to 62.2% in February, with food price inflation reaching a historical high of 99%, according to the World Bank. An Iranian official estimated that the war has caused the loss of one million jobs, according to the New York Times.

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Technologies

Investors zero in on August inflation data in the week ahead after yields spike to levels not seen in years

Next week’s inflation data takes on even greater importance for investors as they try to determine where the Federal Reserve could go with interest rates.

Following this week’s much hotter-than-expected August jobs report , next week’s inflation data takes on even greater importance for investors as they try to determine where the Federal Reserve could go with interest rates later this month. On Friday, nonfarm payrolls rose 162,000 last month , well above the Dow Jones forecast of 53,000, while the unemployment rate came in line with expectations at 4.1%. July and June also saw upward revisions. Stocks fell as investors recalibrated their expectations on the Fed’s rate decision when it meets Sept. 15-16. Fed funds futures pricing showed bets for a hike at that meeting grew to 58% from 49.4% the day before, according to the CME FedWatch tool . With the report supporting Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh’s recent comments that the labor market is ” quite stable ,” the release of August’s producer and consumer price index readings on Thursday and Friday, respectively, will serve as the final piece in the rate path puzzle for investors. “What’s been happening in the market now is that it’s the tug of war between those who are worried that the Fed will be raising rates and those who think that the Fed will remain on the sidelines,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research. That focus is exacerbated by the fact that there also aren’t many other competing catalysts next week, Stovall noted. Unless Russian President Vladimir Putin suddenly says he’s going to halt the war in Ukraine or unless Iran wishes to negotiate a ceasefire agreement, he believes that traders are “going to focus on the hard data.” “They’re going to all come from Missouri and say, ‘Show me,’” he said. Yields still in play While some like Ameriprise’s Anthony Saglimbene believe the market could be overreacting to the prospect of a rate hike this month, there’s another force that could weigh on equities next week: Treasury yields. This past week, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to its highest level since November 2023 . The 2-year note yield also reached its highest since January 2025 . Those moves came amid a broader run-up in global bond yields , spurred in part by growing inflation fears as energy rises remain elevated from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. “Yields are becoming a larger deal for the market,” said Saglimbene, his firm’s chief market strategist. “Markets see volatility increase when longer-term rates are moving higher, and I think that is going to be an underlying issue for the market for the rest of this year.” That’s especially the case if the 10-year yield starts “moving closer to 5%,” he said. “Markets would have a difficult time with that.” The S & P 500 and Nasdaq Composite finished the week in positive territory, rising 0.1% and 0.4%, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average , on the other hand, fell about 0.3%. The market is closed on Monday for the Labor Day holiday. Week ahead calendar All times ET. Monday, Sept. 7 U.S. markets closed for Labor Day Tuesday, Sept. 8 6 a.m.: NFIB Small Business Index (August) 3 p.m.: Consumer credit (July) Wednesday, Sept. 9 None. Thursday, Sept. 10 8:30 a.m.: Initial jobless claims (week ended Sept. 5) 8:30 a.m.: Producer price index (August) 10 a.m.: Existing home sales (August) 10 a.m.: Wholesale inventories (July) Friday, Sept. 11 8:30 a.m.: Consumer price index (August) 10 a.m.: Consumer sentiment (preliminary, September)

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CNBC Daily Open: Rising tensions — from North America to the Middle East

President Donald Trump said Monday that Canadian airplane maker Bombardier must build its products in the U.S. in order to keep selling in the American market.

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Hello, this is Justina Lee writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.

U.S.-Canada trade relations continue to be under strain, with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday saying that Canadian airplane maker Bombardier must build its products locally in order to keep selling to the American market.

The European Union, meanwhile, is strengthening its ties with Greenland with a fresh boost in the form of a 200-million-euro funding package, amid Trump’s annexation drive for the self-governing Danish territory.

What you need to know today

The hostile trade war between Washington and Ottawa continues to bubble and brew, after Trump said that Canada’s Bombardier must manufacture in the U.S. to retain access to the American market.

“NO MORE SELLING BOMBARDIER IN THE UNITED STATES!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “If they want our Market, they must build here, and stop treating America like a ‘piggybank.’”

U.S. relations with its traditional allies in Europe aren’t doing too good either.

The European Union is seeking to shore up Arctic ties with the Greenland amid Trump’s continued fixation on the territory, which became a major trans-Atlantic issue at the start of the year.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a fresh funding boost for Greenland with a 200-million-euro ($232.3 million) funding package, which would focus on connectivity, clean energy and critical raw materials.

Speaking of energy: oil prices extended gains Tuesday, after rising to a six-week high the day before, as tensions in the Middle East continued to escalate with the U.S. and Iran trading strikes over the weekend.

In the markets, U.S. futures were broadly lower, with investors continuing to keep a close eye on Mideast developments. Stock markets in Asia were mixed Tuesday.

The German rocket maker and SpaceX rival Isar Aerospace is looking to increase launches to meet what it claims to be “booming demand.” Chief Commercial Officer Stella Guillen told CNBC that its commercial pipeline exceeds 10 billion euros.

The company successfully reached orbit for the first time over the weekend, marking a significant achievement for the commercial space industry in Europe.

—Justina Lee

And finally…

Gasoline prices, over $4 per gallon, hit record high for Labor Day

A late-summer surge in gasoline prices means drivers are paying more at the pump than they ever have on Labor Day.

And, since the holiday weekend is one of the busiest travel weekends of the year, according to rental car company Hertz, that means road trips may be more expensive than usual.

The national average for a gallon of regular unleaded gas was $4.15 on Monday, a record high for the holiday, according to AAA.

The price has never been above $4 per gallon on Labor Day, according to AAA. The previous record was $3.82, reached on Sept. 3, 2012.

—Sarah Agostino

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