Weekly news summary for August 11 to August 17

Friday, Aug. 11: US PPI Beats Expectations as Services Costs Climb

US wholesale inflation surged slightly above expectations in July, reversing a cooling trend, as wholesale services costs climbed 0.5 percent in the month, the highest increase since August 2022, although higher wages maintained some inflationary pressures.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showed that the country’s producer price index (PPI) rose 0.3 percent in July from a downwardly revised 0.0 percent posted a month earlier, while it advanced 0.8 percent annually, surpassing forecasts of 0.7 percent and June’s upwardly revised 0.2 percent.

Monday, Aug. 14: SoftBank Seeks VF1’s Remaining Arm Stake – Report

SoftBank Group Corp. reportedly plans to acquire Vision Fund 1’s (VF1) remaining 25 percent stake in Arm Ltd., ahead of the British semiconductor company’s public listing on Nasdaq.

People familiar with the matter said the Japanese tech giant is discussing a possible deal with its 100-billion-dollar investment fund to purchase the stake in Arm, which it currently owns 75 percent of, raising the potential for a major windfall to VF1 investors after years of meager returns.

Tuesday, Aug. 15: Prime Trust Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Prime Trust LLC has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after the US crypto custodian struggled with a shortfall in clients’ funds.

The filing came after a Nevada regulator petitioned to place the company into receivership on June 26 due to a loss of 85 million dollars in fiat to its clients, for which it only had 29 million dollars, citing Prime Trust’s loss of access to some crypto wallets that held clients’ assets in December 2021.

Wednesday, Aug. 16: VinFast Surges in Nasdaq Trading Debut

Shares of Vietnamese electric vehicle (EV) maker VinFast Auto Ltd. surged on Wednesday in its trading debut on Nasdaq, driving founder Pham Nhat Vuong’s net worth 39 billion dollars higher to 44.5 billion dollars, placing him in the top five of Asia’s richest person.

VinFast’s stock, which was listed through a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), gained 225 percent on its first day, hitting an intraday high of 38.77 before closing at 37.06 dollars with a valuation of 85 billion dollars, surpassing the market cap of US car giants Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co.

Thursday, Aug. 17: Japan Exports Drop for the First Time since 2021

Japan’s exports declined for the first time since 2021 in July, as demand for light oil and chip-making equipment weakened, further raising concerns over a global recession as major markets such as key trading partner China faltered.

Data from the Japanese Ministry of Finance (MOF) showed that exports dropped 0.3 percent in July annually from a 1.5 percent increase in June, as shipments to China fell 13.4 percent year-on-year last month due to a slump in exports of cars, stainless steel, and IC chips after June’s 10.9 percent slide.

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