According to BlockBeats, on July 28th, citing the Seoul Economic Daily, as the South Korean stock market continues its slump, South Korean investors are once again turning to US stocks, with net purchases exceeding 5 trillion won this month. Data from Seibro, the securities information portal of the Korea Depository & Clearing Corporation, shows that from July 1st to 27th, South Korean investors made net purchases of US stocks totaling $3.58999 billion, approximately 5.5 times the net purchases for the entire month of June.

Net purchases totaled only $2.53026 billion as of the 23rd, but increased by $1.05973 billion in the following two trading days. Retail investor funds were primarily concentrated in the semiconductor and technology sectors. The product with the largest net purchases this month was the Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X ETF, which tracks the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, with net purchases reaching $1.75919 billion. SK Hynix ADRs also continued to be sought after, with net purchases rising to $812.38 million as of the 27th.

According to BlockBeats, on July 28th, ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate meeting, market uncertainty stemmed from three main themes simultaneously entering a testing phase: monetary policy, AI capital expenditure, and geopolitics. While the market generally still expects the Fed to hold rates steady, given oil price volatility, the unresolved situation in the Middle East, and Warsh's continued downplaying of forward guidance, investors have gradually accepted a new pricing model where "policy no longer provides answers, but data determines the direction." Regardless of whether there is a rate hike this time, the market is more focused on how Warsh will build the Fed's policy credibility and whether it will accept higher market volatility in exchange for policy flexibility in controlling inflation.

Another noteworthy change comes from the AI industry itself. Nvidia's continued expansion of investment and financing in AI infrastructure such as OpenAI and SK Group reflects that AI competition is further evolving into a capital competition. However, as suppliers begin to offer guarantees, financing, and even directly assist customers in building data centers, the market is starting to reassess whether the rapid growth of AI is accumulating higher financial leverage risks. The recent sharp decline in Japanese and South Korean semiconductor stocks does not mean that AI demand has disappeared, but rather that the market is beginning to examine whether high capital expenditures can be continuously converted into corporate cash flow and investment returns. This means that the AI narrative is gradually shifting from a "growth story" to a test of "capital efficiency." In the future, in addition to revenue and profit, the capital expenditure recovery efficiency, free cash flow, and AI investment return rate in the financial reports of tech giants may all become new valuation standards in the market.

The situation in the Middle East remains a typical pattern of "political de-escalation, unresolved energy risks." Trump has once again opened a diplomatic window for Iran, reducing the risk of a full-blown conflict in the short term. However, the Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure and the continued uncertainty surrounding shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea mean that energy supply risks have not truly disappeared. This implies that even if crude oil prices decline in the short term, the energy premium could still repeatedly influence market expectations for inflation, giving the Federal Reserve more hawkish room for policy adjustments.

The core factor truly impacting the market this week will not be a single event, but rather three simultaneous tests: whether the Federal Reserve is willing to accept higher volatility to maintain its credibility as an inflation fighter; whether the AI industry can prove that massive capital expenditures can ultimately translate into corporate profits; and whether the earnings reports of tech giants are sufficient to support the current high market valuations. With policy, liquidity, and corporate fundamentals all undergoing market scrutiny, asset price volatility will increasingly rely on fundamentals and capital efficiency, rather than solely on policy expectations or the AI narrative.

BlockBeats reported on July 28th that ZuriQ, a startup spun off from ETH Zurich, announced the completion of a $25.5 million seed funding round. The company focuses on developing a novel quantum chip architecture, which is claimed to offer greater scalability than existing solutions and has the potential to accelerate the scaling of quantum computing.