Earnings Surprises and Nervous Chatbots: Saturday Asia Briefing

It’s been a week of storms, market optimism and the return of the EV price war. For the first time since July, China’s benchmark stock index rose over the week, as Beijing kept rolling out support. Hong Kong is sawing fallen trees in the wake of Super Typhoon Saola, and India’s space agency is turning its attention to the sun.

Beyond Beijing’s added measures to shore up financial markets, there’s a new cause for optimism. Earnings from Chinese companies in the battered technology and consumer sectors have been better than feared, lifting hopes that the turnaround may not be another false start.