Weekly news summary for July 28 to August 3

Friday, Jul. 28: Japan Bond Yields Hit Top End of BOJ’s Yield Range

Japanese government bond yields sharply climbed on Friday to hit the top end of the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) yield curve control (YCC) range for the first time in four months after signs of a potential adjustment on its yield control.

The 10-year Japanese government bond yields rose 13.5 percent to 0.5 percent, reaching the upper end of the central bank’s YCC range, after it was reported that the BOJ might discuss introducing some changes to its YCC policy, underlining concerns over the impact of maintaining a looser monetary policy.

Monday, Jul. 31: Walmart Ramps Up Investment in Flipkart

Walmart Inc. confirmed on Monday that it has further ramped up its investment in Flipkart Private Ltd., buying Tiger Global Management LLC’s remaining shares in the Indian e-commerce company to value it at around $35 billion, compared to its $38 billion value in 2021.

The US retail giant has not provided further information about the purchase, although it was reported on Sunday that it acquired Flipkart’s stake for $1.4 billion.

Tuesday, Aug. 1: Meta Reportedly Planning to Launch AI Personas

Meta Platforms Inc. is reportedly planning to release different artificial intelligence (AI) powered chatbots with different personas as soon as September, which would help users navigate the platform and receive recommendations.

Citing people with knowledge of the matter, the report stated that the Menlo Park, California-based company is developing the chatbots to enable human-like discussions with users on platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, to potentially improve engagement with its social media networks.

Wednesday, Aug. 2: MicroStrategy May Add More Bitcoin with Stock Sale

MicroStrategy Inc. announced on Wednesday its plans to sell 750 million dollars’ worth of its stock, consisting of publicly traded equity and bonds, with part of the proceeds expected to be used as working capital and to increase its 152,800 Bitcoin holdings.

A Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing showed that the US software developer would be selling its stock to Cowen and Company LLC, Canaccord Genuity LLC, and Berenberg Capital Markets LLC, while Bitcoin’s price surged around 29,800 dollars following the news.

Thursday, Aug. 3: Robinhood Achieves Profitability in Q2

Robinhood Markets Inc. on Thursday reported second-quarter results that showed profitability for the first time since it became a public company, even as its user base fell by one million to 10.8 million.

The US online broker’s net interest revenue climbed 243 percent to 442 million dollars in the second quarter as its margin investing business strengthened on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy tightening, while its net income came in at 25 million dollars or 0.03 dollars earnings per share (EPS).

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