Global TradFi & Macroeconomics

According to the investment banking industry on August 27, Kosdaq-listed companies are increasingly pursuing mergers and acquisitions to drive growth. With core operations alone insufficient to expand, mid-sized listed firms are acquiring profitable companies to boost earnings. This mirrors the

US military forces struck Iranian rocket launchers in the Hormuz Strait on the 30th (local time), marking the first direct military action against Iran in about a month, while Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's hawkish Jackson Hole speech on the 28th sent the dollar surging and pushed markets to price in a 60%

The Nikkei 225 index opened 731.46 points lower on Monday, Aug 31, declining 1.10% to 65674.10.

Hanwha Investment & Securities raised its target price for LG CNS stocks to 100,000 won on August 31, an 11.1% increase from 90,000 won. The brokerage maintained a 'BUY' rating. Analyst Kim So-hye stated that LG CNS is positioned to benefit from expanding domestic artificial intelligence (AI) data c

Apple named John Ternus as its next CEO on April 20, with the 25-year company veteran set to officially take charge on September 1. He succeeds Tim Cook, who will transition to executive chairman of the board, concluding Cook's 15-year tenure as CEO that added roughly $3.6 trillion to Apple's

According to Hana Financial Investment, on August 31, the brokerage raised its target price for LG CNS to 100,000 Korean won (KRW) from 90,000 KRW, an 11.1% increase, while maintaining a buy rating. The firm expects LG CNS to benefit from rising domestic AI data center investments without bearing

According to Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, industrial output is expected to grow 6.4% month-on-month in August and decline 4.2% in September.

According to Trump's statement on Truth Social on August 30, President Trump announced plans to use Venezuelan crude oil obtained through potential deals with Venezuela to replenish the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which was depleted during the Biden administration. Trump stated his intention t

Mirae Asset Asset Management's Hong Kong entity launched a tokenized class for the GlobalX HSCEI Covered Call Active ETF on the 27th, in partnership with Citi and digital asset platform OSL. This marks the first tokenization of a fund directly managed by Mirae Asset, where each token corresponds

According to this week's market developments, Grayscale's Zcash Trust converted to the first ZEC spot ETF, beginning trading on NYSE Arca on August 25. Meanwhile, Bitwise's Solana staking ETF received approximately $45 million in inflows during the first two days of the week, approaching $1

Japan's July retail sales grew 4% on a year-on-year basis, exceeding expectations of 2.9%. The prior month's figure was revised upward from 0.50% to 0.60%.

According to Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, industrial output in July rose 0.1% month-on-month in its initial reading, exceeding the forecast decline of 0.9% and marking a significant slowdown from June's 1.9%

Japan's retail sales grew 4% year-over-year in July, exceeding economist expectations of 3%, up from 0.5% in June. The increase reflects stronger consumer spending amid economic recovery.

Japan's industrial output for July rose 0.1% month-on-month (initial reading), exceeding expectations of -0.7% and rebounding from the prior month's 1.90% growth.

Japan's retail sales climbed 2.4% month-on-month in July, exceeding the expected 1.7% growth and rebounding sharply from a 4.1% decline in June.

Japan's industrial output in July increased 4.1% year-on-year in its preliminary reading, beating the market forecast of 3.4% and declining from the prior month's 4.9%.

Iran fired missiles at US naval vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on the 31st (local time), one day after US forces struck Iranian military sites on Larak Island. Iran's state-run Press TV reported the missile launch targeting US vessels, though immediate confirmation of hits or damage was not

KB Asset Management launched the 'RISE Global AI NAND Memory Semiconductor' ETF on the 31st, allocating 70% equally across four global NAND leaders - Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, SanDisk, and Kioxia - at 17.5% each. The firm positions NAND flash as the solution to AI inference bottlenecks, where m

Samsung Biologics decided on a 3.0094 trillion won rights offering on the 28th, with securities analysts characterizing the move as proactive capital raising for large-scale growth investments rather than financial distress. The company will issue 2.27 million new ordinary shares at 1.322 million wo

According to Yonhapinfomax, 22 South Korean brokerages issued a combined 9.7165 trillion Korean won in commercial paper and short-term bonds during the week of August 24-28. Hana Securities led the issuance with 3.365 trillion won, followed by DB Securities at 1.09 trillion won and Yuanta Securities