According to Bitget's market data, both the Nikkei 225 Index and South Korea's KOSPI Index opened down by more than 1%.

Sources familiar with the matter said Samsung Electronics will announce a new shareholder return plan on Friday, potentially worth up to 110 trillion won (US$79 billion). The Samsung board of directors is set to hold a meeting around 4 p.m. local time after the Korean stock market closes, with details of the plan to be released shortly afterward, the sources added. The plan’s size is projected to range between 90 trillion won and 110 trillion won, according to the people with knowledge of the situation.

U.S. stocks closed on Thursday: The Dow Jones Industrial Average initially fell 1.3%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.86%, and the Nasdaq declined 1%. Moderna slid 23.5%, while Microchip Technology rose 5.8%. The storage sector saw broad gains, with Micron Technology up around 4%, SanDisk climbing roughly 2%, and Seagate advancing 2.12%. Among crypto-related stocks, MSTR gained 7.81%, CRCL rose 6.42%, COIN climbed 7.58%, BMNR advanced 6.62%, SBET increased 7.20%, and PURR rose 7.35%.

According to people familiar with the matter, artificial intelligence company Anthropic expects its IPO size to match or exceed the record set by SpaceX. As the AI firm accelerates its listing preparations, a blockbuster IPO is in the works. The sources said Anthropic is conducting relevant calculations and preparing to publicly file its potential large-scale IPO application as early as the end of this month. They revealed that recent investor communication meetings hosted by CFO Clario avoided valuation discussions. Data shows that rocket and satellite company SpaceX raised $75 billion in its IPO, making it the largest initial public offering in history. The figure ultimately rose to $86.2 billion after the exercise of the so-called over-allotment option, a mechanism typically triggered when a stock rises in its early trading days. Anthropic’s target reflects that leading AI industry players are reshaping the tech investment landscape in an extremely short period of time. Previous reports noted that Anthropic’s preliminary second-quarter revenue exceeded $115 billion, while the same period in 2025 saw only $787 million. As of the end of July, the company’s annualized revenue run rate had reached $650 billion.

According to HTX market data, Bitcoin has broken through the $73,000 mark, currently trading at $73,320, with a 5.71% increase over the past 24 hours.

Citigroup currency strategists have recently turned bearish on the U.S. dollar, as markets brace for a less hawkish Federal Reserve, the U.S. midterm elections, and the U.S. Treasury’s expanded debt buyback program. In a Thursday research note, the Citi team led by Daniel Tobon said it has cut its three-month forecast for the U.S. Dollar Index from 102.12 to 98.34. The shift follows the bank’s warning that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s latest move to lower long-term borrowing costs—expanding buybacks of 10- to 30-year U.S. Treasuries—could come at the cost of a weaker dollar. The day before, the U.S. Dollar Index had dropped to its lowest level since May before stabilizing around 98.9. Tobon and his colleagues added that their stance on the dollar has been more neutral in recent months, and cautioned that risks may rise in the coming months.