The drop on Iran’s informal currency markets came as Washington prepared to announce even more extensive sanctions that it said would be an “economic D-Day” and would add further pressure.

The currency had already been under pressure before the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, amid double-digit inflation and negative growth but has been hitting new record lows as nearly six months of war have taken an even greater toll.

The Raiders continue to impact the Las Vegas community, as they announced their largest philanthropic commitment in the franchise’s history on Monday. 

The Raiders and Intermountain Health announced a $25 million gift to help build Nevada’s first-ever stand-alone children’s hospital. 

The gift by the Raiders was led by owners Mark Davis, Egon Durban, and Michael Meldman, who each contributed $5 million toward the hospital’s development. The Raiders committed an additional $10 million for this game-changing gift. 

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Owner Mark Davis of the Las Vegas Raiders reacts before a preseason game against the Houston Texans at Reliant Stadium on Aug. 20, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Tim Warner/Getty Images / Getty Images)

“We want this gift to remind children and families that they have our team backing them and that the support of the entire Raider Nation is in their corner,” Davis said in a statement about the philanthropic achievement. 

Mitch Cloward, Intermountain Health’s region president, added: “The Raiders are committed to excellence, and this gift is a generational investment that will keep families closer, strengthen our community, and give every kid every chance to thrive.

RAIDERS STAR ASHTON JEANTY SUFFERS APPARENT LEG INJURY DURING TRAINING CAMP PRACTICE, HELPED OFF FIELD

The hospital, which will be located at the UNLV Harry Reid Research and Technology Park, will be the first of its kind in Nevada, “anchoring a new future for kids and families across the state and delivering comprehensive, high-acuity pediatric care.”

The building will be 828,000 square feet and will rest on a 33-acre campus with 180 patient beds, with the design allowing room to grow. 

The hospital will provide advanced emergency services designed specifically for children and a full-spectrum outpatient center alongside with inpatient and specialty care. 

Las Vegas Raiders fans cheer from the stands prior to an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns, at Allegiant Stadium on Sept. 29, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Brooke Sutton/Getty Images / Getty Images)

And as a result of the $25 million gift, Intermountain Health Nevada Children’s Hospital’s physical therapy and rehabilitation space, as well as its bistro, will be named in the Raiders’ honor. 

It will be the Las Vegas Raiders Bistro, which will sit adjacent to the hospital’s main lobby. The press release noted this as “a space where caregivers and parents navigating the complexities of having a child in the hospital can pause,” providing “a quiet meal, or seeking a moment of normalcy” where families can find support.

“Sports reminds us that we do our best when we have the right team around us,” Meldman said in a statement. “Families deserve to feel supported every step of the way. In addition to the experts at Intermountain Health, the Raiders family stands with our community’s kids.”

The Las Vegas Raiders Inpatient Rehab Gym will also play a vital role in helping children “heal, grow stronger, and regain confidence through movement and play.” The space will provide advanced therapeutic equipment alongside some playful design elements to make therapy feel more empowering and fun. 

Owner and managing general partner Mark Davis of the Las Vegas Raiders walks onto the field before a game against the Denver Broncos at Allegiant Stadium on Dec. 7, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Chris Unger/Getty Images / Getty Images)

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“When we invest in children, we invest in everything that comes next – their education, their opportunities, and their future,” Sandra Douglass Morgan, president of the Raiders, said in a statement. “We want Nevada’s kids to know that their home team is cheering them on.”

Construction on the landmark hospital is expected to start in coming months, with an anticipated opening date coming for 2030. 

Meanwhile, Ontario’s outspoken premier, Doug Ford, whose province is home to Canada’s auto manufacturing industry, responded to Trump’s tariffs and threats by telling the US president to “kiss my ass”.

Ford also suggested that Canada should charge the US extra for its oil and gas, as well as electricity and critical minerals, adding that he will be speaking to Carney on ways to “fight back”.

His comments appeared to catch the attention of Trump, who in a Truth Social post accused Ford of “bluster” and wrote: “Someone should get these clowns to ‘fall in line’ or, the consequences for Canada will be far WORSE!”.

Canada accounts for 60% of total US crude oil imports and close to 100% of US natural gas exports, according to Canadian government data.

Businesses on both sides have warned that they stand to be impacted by the new wave of US tariffs on Canada, as well as the “dollar-for-dollar” retaliatory tariffs that Canada plans to impose on 8 September.

The trade war also put into question the future of an existing North American trade pact, known as the UMSCA, that was signed by Trump in his first term with Canada and Mexico.

During a mandatory review this summer, both Canada and Mexico said they want the USMCA extended for another 16 years. The US, however, said it will not renew in its current form.

The pact underpins $1.6tn in North American trade.

Experts with Oxford Economics warned on Monday that a dismantling of USMCA could have dire economic consequences for Canada.

“While unlikely, escalating trade tensions means the risk of the USMCA unravelling has increased, which would plunge Canada into recession and leave it on a permanently lower growth path,” warned Head of Canada Economic Tony Stillo and Senior Economist Michael Davenport.

BOISE, Idaho — Shares of Micron Technology Inc. fell more than 6 percent on Monday, extending pressure on memory-chip makers as investors reacted to broader technology-sector weakness, disappointment over a major peer’s capital-return plans and caution ahead of key industry earnings.

Micron stock traded at $906.48 in midday action, down $60.30 or 6.24 percent, according to market data from Aug. 24. The decline came amid a selloff that also hit other semiconductor names, including rivals in the high-bandwidth memory space that powers artificial-intelligence accelerators.

The move reflected a combination of sector-wide risk reduction and specific concerns about the sustainability of elevated valuations after a powerful multi-month rally driven by AI demand. Semiconductor stocks broadly weakened as traders reduced exposure ahead of Nvidia’s earnings report later in the week. Rising Treasury yields and geopolitical tensions further weighed on high-growth technology shares.

A contributing factor was investor reaction to Samsung Electronics’ shareholder-return announcement, which some market participants viewed as less aggressive than hoped. Memory-related stocks, including Micron, Sandisk and SK Hynix, traded lower in response. Additional pressure came from reports of potential increased capacity from Chinese producers and profit-taking following Micron’s substantial gains earlier in the year.

Despite the sharp session decline, Micron’s recent operational performance remains exceptionally strong. In its fiscal third-quarter results reported in late June, the company posted revenue of $41.46 billion, more than quadrupling from the year-earlier period and exceeding analyst expectations by a wide margin. Non-GAAP diluted earnings per share reached $25.11. Gross margins expanded significantly, approaching 85 percent, reflecting tight supply and robust pricing for advanced memory products.

Management guided for fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of approximately $50 billion, plus or minus $1 billion, with gross margins near 86 percent. Data-center related revenue has become a dominant driver, supported by surging demand for high-bandwidth memory used alongside AI accelerators from major chip designers.

“Micron’s record fiscal Q3 financial results and even stronger outlook for Q4 reflect the strategic value of memory in the AI era,” President and Chief Executive Sanjay Mehrotra said in the company’s earnings statement.

Micron has emphasized that demand for high-performance memory continues to outstrip available supply. The company’s HBM production for 2026 is largely committed under multi-year agreements, and it has secured substantial customer cash deposits to lock in future volumes. HBM4 products are ramping faster than prior generations, with early revenue already exceeding $1 billion in some reports.

In recent comments, Mehrotra underscored the structural nature of the demand shift. “We see no end when supply catches up with demand, and the demand continues to grow,” he said. He has also stated that “Today there is no AI without memory,” highlighting how AI systems require increasing quantities of higher-performance, lower-power memory that extends beyond data centers into other applications over time.

The company has signed multiple strategic customer agreements covering significant portions of its DRAM and NAND output, providing greater visibility than in previous memory cycles. These contracts, some spanning five years, include minimum volumes and pricing terms intended to reduce traditional boom-bust volatility. Micron is simultaneously investing heavily in new capacity, including U.S. manufacturing expansions, to address the shortfall while supporting longer-term customer roadmaps.

Monday’s decline occurred against a backdrop of elevated expectations. Micron shares had more than tripled over the prior year at points, reflecting the rapid improvement in profitability as AI-related memory pricing and volumes surged. The stock’s sensitivity to macroeconomic signals, peer announcements and shifts in risk appetite has increased alongside its valuation.

Analysts continue to cite the company’s strong order book, high margins and multi-year customer commitments as supportive of the longer-term outlook, even as near-term trading remains volatile. Capital spending has been raised to support HBM and advanced DRAM production, with management balancing expansion against the need to maintain disciplined returns.

The memory industry has historically been cyclical, with periods of shortage giving way to oversupply and price declines. Micron executives have argued that AI has altered the equation by making memory a more strategic and less commoditized component, with customers designing systems years in advance and locking in supply through formal agreements. Whether this shift fully dampens traditional cycle dynamics remains a key question for investors.

Broader market factors added to the pressure. Concerns about the pace of AI infrastructure returns, higher interest rates and potential increases in global memory capacity have prompted some portfolio managers to trim positions after large gains. Reports of Chinese producers exploring public listings or capacity expansions have also surfaced as a competitive consideration, though advanced HBM performance leadership currently remains concentrated among established players.

For the immediate term, attention is likely to focus on how memory stocks trade around Nvidia’s results and any further signals on AI capital spending from major cloud providers. Micron’s next earnings update will provide fresh data on fourth-quarter performance, HBM ramp progress and the durability of pricing and margins.

The company continues to position itself as a critical supplier in the AI ecosystem, with data-center memory demand running at annualized rates well above prior cycles. Cash generation has strengthened alongside profitability, supporting both reinvestment and returns to shareholders.

Monday’s drop illustrates the tension between exceptional near-term fundamentals and the market’s ongoing assessment of valuation, competition and the longevity of the current supply-demand imbalance. Micron’s shares have demonstrated both substantial upside during periods of tight supply and sharp corrections when sentiment shifts. The coming weeks and quarters will test whether the combination of long-term contracts, capacity investments and AI-driven structural demand can sustain elevated performance amid fluctuating investor risk tolerance.

HONG KONG — Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. fell sharply on Monday after the Chinese technology company finalized a large share placement aimed at funding its artificial-intelligence ambitions, with investors focusing on dilution and the near-term costs of heavy capital spending.

Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed stock closed at 112.50 Hong Kong dollars, down 10.50 dollars or 8.54 percent, according to market data from Aug. 24. The shares had fallen as much as about 10.5 percent earlier in the session before stabilizing near the placement price. The decline followed the announcement of a roughly 80 billion Hong Kong dollar ($10.2 billion) offering of 710 million new shares priced at 112.70 Hong Kong dollars each, representing an 8.4 percent discount to the previous closing level.

The deal ranks as the largest primary follow-on equity offering by a Hong Kong-listed company and among the biggest globally this year. Alibaba said the net proceeds will be used entirely to build out its full-stack AI capabilities and related infrastructure, including chips, computing capacity and models. The placement attracted robust demand, with the order book reportedly reaching about $28 billion, including significant interest from long-only and sovereign investors.

The fundraising comes one week after Alibaba reported results for the quarter ended June 30 that highlighted both the momentum and the expense of its AI push. Group revenue rose 9 percent year over year to 268.95 billion yuan. Revenue from AI Cloud and Compute Services accelerated to 45 percent growth, while AI-related product revenue delivered its twelfth consecutive quarter of triple-digit year-over-year increases. Alibaba Cloud maintained a leading position in China’s AI cloud market.

“We delivered a strong quarter, driven by the improving commercialization of our full-stack AI capabilities,” Chief Executive Eddie Wu said in the company’s earnings statement. “Alibaba Cloud’s external revenue growth accelerated to 45%, with AI-related product revenue delivering triple-digit growth for the twelfth consecutive quarter. We recently launched frontier language, coding, video, audio, image and music models, all delivering top-tier performance. We introduced QwenWork, an AI workforce agent that unleashes enterprise productivity and capabilities. With our full-stack AI strategy, we have put Alibaba in a superior position to capture the substantial growth of demand for artificial intelligence and AI compute.”

Despite the top-line progress, profitability came under pressure. Net profit fell 75 percent from a year earlier, primarily reflecting higher AI-related spending. Capital expenditure rose 75 percent in the quarter as the company accelerated infrastructure buildout. Management noted that it had already deployed nearly half of a multi-year capital expenditure plan and brought forward the expected payback period on AI investments to about two and a half years from three, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI services.

Wu has emphasized the need for continued investment to secure long-term growth. The company has been expanding its data-center footprint, including a recent addition in South Korea that brought its global network to more than 100 availability zones. Alibaba is also developing proprietary chips with the goal of reducing reliance on commercially procured processors over time, which executives say could improve margins as deployment scales.

Investor reaction to the share sale mixed recognition of AI’s strategic importance with concerns about near-term dilution and returns. The new shares represent approximately 3.6 percent of the enlarged share count. Some market participants questioned whether the scale of spending would translate into commensurate profitability, especially as e-commerce growth remains more moderate and competition in AI intensifies both domestically and globally.

Alibaba has positioned its AI efforts as a full-stack strategy encompassing models such as the Qwen series, cloud infrastructure, applications and supporting hardware. AI-related offerings now form a growing portion of cloud revenue, and the company has highlighted improving commercialization through products aimed at enterprise productivity and consumer use cases. Cloud segment margins have shown improvement even as overall group profitability absorbs the investment phase.

The stock’s decline on Monday occurred against a broader backdrop of scrutiny over AI capital expenditure across the technology sector. Investors globally have grown more selective about the timeline for returns on large-scale infrastructure outlays. For Alibaba, the combination of a discounted equity raise and the recent profit contraction amplified those concerns in the short term.

Company executives have maintained that the investments are necessary to capture demand for AI compute and services. Alibaba Cloud continues to rank as a market leader in China, and management has pointed to accelerating external revenue growth and rising annualized run rates for AI products as evidence that commercialization is advancing. The shortened payback guidance reflects higher utilization and demand visibility than previously assumed.

Beyond AI, Alibaba’s core e-commerce and related businesses continue to generate the bulk of revenue, though growth rates have moderated compared with earlier years. Quick commerce and international platforms remain areas of focus, with ongoing efforts to improve unit economics. The company’s overall strategy centers on leveraging its ecosystem to integrate AI capabilities across consumer and enterprise offerings.

Monday’s share-price reaction underscores the tension between long-term strategic bets and immediate financial metrics. The successful placement provides additional capital for infrastructure expansion at a time when demand for AI services is rising rapidly. Whether the dilution and elevated spending ultimately support higher valuations will depend on the pace at which Alibaba converts infrastructure investments into sustained, profitable growth in its cloud and AI businesses.

Trading in the shares is expected to remain sensitive to further updates on capital expenditure, cloud growth rates, AI product monetization and any additional financing or partnership developments. Alibaba’s next earnings report will offer a clearer view of progress against its multi-year investment plan and the trajectory of profitability as AI commercialization continues.

The Government is launching an independent review into how business rates are calculated for pubs and hotels

The Treasury has appointed an expert to examine how business rates are calculated for pubs and hotels and put forward recommendations for overhauling the system.

Jerry Schurder, former business rates policy lead at advisory firm Newmark UK, will head the independent review into valuations and deliver his findings to the Treasury by the end of March 2027.

The Government is also inviting evidence from landlords, brewers, hoteliers and business owners.

The move follows a 20% reduction in business rates bills announced to alleviate cost pressures on pubs, social clubs and live music venues from April next year.

The announcement was broadly welcomed, though there were calls to extend the relief to a wider range of businesses and to pursue more sweeping changes to the system.

No 10 has indicated it will seek to outline further reforms, including small business rates relief, at the Budget.

Financial Secretary to the Treasury James Murray said: “Pubs and hotels are vital for communities and bringing growth to every postcode.

“Last month we announced tax cuts for pubs to give them the breathing room they need. Today we’re going further with a rethink of valuations – so that we can build a fairer system for the future.”

Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, said: “For years pubs have paid a disproportionately higher business rates bill which has ground down their ability to keep the doors open, so this review is sorely needed and hugely welcome.”

Neal Jones, EMEA president at Marriott International, said: “The current valuation methodology creates a significant burden for hotels, and it is right that the system is being examined to ensure it is fair, transparent, and reflective of today’s market realities.”

Allen Simpson, chief executive at UK Hospitality, said: “Business rates remain a significant burden for hospitality businesses and the system needs to better reflect the trading realities for the sector.

“Comprehensive review and reform can address these challenges, while also supporting investment and growth.”

Braden Saunders, UK Spirits Alliance spokesperson and owner of Battersea-based Doghouse Distillery and Bar said: “The Prime Minister’s business rates cut for hospitality costs £100 million.

“The excise duty hike at the last budget lost the Treasury nearly the same amount in spirits revenue last year.

“Cut excise duty on spirits, fund the rates cut – it pays for itself. We welcome this review and look forward to engaging.”

Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride warned that the impact of the move, with recommendations set to be implemented at the next 2029 business rates revaluation, would arrive too late.

He said: “Tax hikes on business premises and jobs, alongside job-destroying regulation in the Employment Rights Act, have left many hospitality businesses on the brink.”

The Conservatives would scrap business rates for tens of thousands of retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, he added. Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper said: “This can’t be an excuse for not taking bolder and more urgent action to save our high streets now.

“Fundamental reform of business rates is long overdue, but every day high street businesses are deciding whether they can keep the doors open.”

She called on Labour to adopt her party’s proposals for an emergency VAT reduction ahead of next April, followed by a comprehensive overhaul of business rates, the removal of so-called ghost landlords and a reversal of changes to employer National Insurance Contributions.

This article was written by

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