The Unitree H1 humanoid robot will compete in the 400-meter track and field event on the first day of the World Humanoid Robot Games at the National Speed Skating Oval (Ice Ribbon) on August 15, 2025 in Beijing, China.
Zhang Xiangyi | China News Service | Getty Images
Hello, this is Leonie Kidd from London.
It’s a sign of the times that a humanoid robot maker founded a decade ago in a 50-square-meter office in Hangzhou, China, enters the market with a nearly 500% gain on its first day of trading.
In a nervous market filled with geopolitical tensions, IPOs are attracting a lot of investor attention, with AI darlings Anthropic and OpenAI gearing up for debuts of their own.
But today, it is with Unitree that the “superman” has started trading.
What you need to know today
Unitree Robotics made a blockbuster debut on the stock market in Shanghai on Wednesday, with newly listed shares trading up 484%. The Hangzhou-based humanoid robot maker has raised about 6.1 billion yuan ($905 million), according to its prospectus.
This group counts Chinese technology giants tencent AI group DeepSeek also invested in the IPO. Unitree on Monday unveiled a new humanoid robot called “Superhuman.” The robot can jump 2 meters from a standing position and run at speeds of up to 12.66 meters per second.
don’t blame canada
U.S. President Donald Trump’s 11th-hour decision suspends 50% tariffs on some Canadian imports. The restrictions were scheduled to go into effect overnight, but the president said in a post on Truth Social that the measures were “based on the fact that Canada and the United States have an agreement, subject to finalization of the text.”
The new tariffs will cover approximately $20 billion worth of Canadian imports, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
Bond downturn
Global bond yields remain near multi-decade highs, putting downward pressure on stock markets from Japan to New York. Stock markets on Wednesday are expected to fall across the Asia-Pacific region, with weaker openings in Europe and the US
Analysts say the protracted Iran war has brought inflation concerns back to the fore, and investors are once again pricing in oil prices for the long term. Later today, the Fed’s Open Market Committee will release minutes from its July meeting, where three opponents voted in favor of raising rates.
profit season
The quarterly earnings season is drawing to a close with a series of important results from major U.S. retail companies. on wednesday, target, lowe’s and TJX Report numbers before the bell. All of today’s big stocks related articles in the US can be found here.
— Leonie Kidd
And finally…
Russia insists its economy is strong. They just fired the top economist who warned them otherwise.
Russian government officials told CNBC that the economy is strong and healthy despite “unprecedented foreign pressure” following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
This message is in stark contrast to the views of the former chief economist of Russia’s state-run development bank VEB. He was fired on Sunday after comments he made earlier this year were reported in Russian-language media.
Former Deputy Economy Minister Andrei Klepakha was reportedly fired for presenting a report warning that Russia could not win a prolonged war of attrition with Ukraine and predicting a major social crisis.
— Sam Meredith
