MSFT, GOOGL and other giants rally behind US 'Project Genesis'; TikTok US plan finalized | Daily News Recap

1219 Dolphin Research Focus:

🐬 Macro/Industry

1. The Bank of Japan raised the policy rate from 0.5% to 0.75%, in line with market expectations. The rate is now at a 30-year high and marks a second hike within 11 months after Jan 2025. The move comes as core inflation has stayed above the 2% target for 44 straight months, with a weak yen adding imported inflation pressure.

2. Microsoft, Google, Nvidia, OpenAI and 24 other top AI firms signed on to the Trump administration’s ‘Genesis Program’. The initiative integrates U.S. Dept. of Energy supercomputers with federal datasets to advance AI across energy, drug discovery and manufacturing. It is a key public–private push to pool compute, data and enterprise tech, accelerating AI adoption in deep-tech fields.

3. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said in an internal memo that ByteDance signed agreements with Oracle and two other investors to form TikTok U.S. Data Security, a JV that will oversee data protection, content moderation and compliance, with ByteDance holding 19.9% as the largest single shareholder and completion targeted by Jan 22, 2026.

ByteDance will continue to lead e-commerce and ads via a wholly owned entity, retaining algorithm IP and licensing it to the JV. The structure aims to avoid a U.S. ban while preserving core commercial and algorithm sovereignty; 170mn U.S. users and ad partnerships are unaffected, but high JV opex will require revenue sharing and geopolitical/regulatory risks remain.

🐬 Stocks

1.$NVIDIA(NVDA.US)

Nvidia announced full availability of the RTX PRO 5000 72GB pro GPU based on the Blackwell architecture. Targeted at pro visualization and design workloads, it combines large memory with architectural upgrades to handle complex workflows. The launch further reinforces Nvidia’s edge in professional compute hardware, powering AI design and industrial visualization use cases.

2.$CTG DUTY-FREE(01880.HK)

China Duty Free said it received award notices from Shanghai Airport, with its wholly owned unit winning duty-free store projects at Shanghai Pudong Intl Airport and Shanghai Hongqiao Intl Airport, and signing transfer agreements for the operating rights of the arrival and departure duty-free stores. The Beijing Capital Intl Airport duty-free tender is also underway. For CDFG, these wins consolidate core airport channel advantages, a new fee model eases cost pressure, and JV operations plus domestic brand introductions may optimize profitability; if the Beijing tender mirrors Shanghai’s model, its channel footprint could be further reshaped.

🐬 Top Gainers by Sector

A-shares: consumer retailers; jewelry/toy/stationery retailers; highway passenger transport.

HK: HR and employment services; furniture/home manufacturers; distributors.

U.S.: paper products; heavy electrical equipment; coal and consumable fuels.

🐬 To Watch Next Mon

1. China 1-yr Loan Prime Rate.

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