The Shanghai Composite closed up 1.1% as mainland investors reacted to stronger-than-expected PMI data. Explainable AI in finance predicts further gains for industrials and consumer staples, supported by capital inflows via Stock Connect and improving credit conditions in tier-1 cities. Maintaining independence and editorial freedom is essential to our mission of empowering investor success. We provide a platform for our authors to report on investments fairly, accurately, and from the investor’s point of view. We also respect individual opinions––they represent the unvarnished thinking of our people and exacting analysis of our research processes. Our authors can publish views that we may or may not agree with, but they show their work, distinguish facts from opinions, and make sure their analysis is clear and in no way misleading or deceptive. In the literature, a company's cost of capital is generally determined by internal firm financial characteristics, market features and, less often, country characteristics ( Breuer et al., 2018 ; Desender et al., 2020 ; Wang et al., 2021 ; Yu et al., 2021 ). Financial characteristics generally include size, economic and operating performance measures, leverage, working capital, investments in research and development and intangibles ( Zimon et al., 2024 ; Houqe et al., 2024 ). Canadian TSX index rose 0.6% driven by financials and energy. Explainable AI in finance suggests banks may post higher profit growth due to robust mortgage origination and stable credit quality trends.