Weekly news summary for August 12 to August 18

Friday, Aug. 12: Tornado Cash Goes Dark after Treasury Funds Vote

The website of sanctioned cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash has gone offline, reportedly after talks within the community about including its governance layer as a signatory to its treasury’s multi-signature wallets that handle about $21 million.

The cause for the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) going dark is yet to be determined, but it followed certain actions carried out by authorities and private entities after the US hit Tornado Cash with sanctions due to allegations of assisting hackers, including North Korea, with laundering money.

Monday, Aug. 15: Oil Prices Decline as China Demand Falters

Oil prices dropped to six-month lows on Monday after leading importer China released July data that missed expectations, while its central bank lowered key lending rates to bolster demand in its economy, weighed by repeated COVID lockdowns that hit retail sales, industrial production, and real estate.

The US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures lost 2.9% to $89.41 per barrel, having reached its lowest level since January of $86.86 earlier, while Brent crude oil futures shed 3.1% to $95.10 per barrel after posting a session a low of $92.80.

Tuesday, Aug. 16: Walmart and Home Depot Post Positive Q2 Earnings

Concerns about a recession in the US economy abated on Tuesday, as Walmart Inc. and Home Depot abated saw strong consumer spending in their respective second quarter, despite rising food and fuel prices continuing to keep their customers wary of pulling money out of their pockets.

Walmart’s net income for the quarter climbed to $5.15 billion or $1.88 per share, and its overall revenue was up 8.4% to $152.86 billion, while Home Depot’s profit rose to $5.17 billion or $5.05 per share, and quarterly sales surged to their highest level of 6.5% from 2021.

Wednesday, Aug. 17: UK Inflation Rises to New 40-Year High in July

The UK’s inflation surged to a new 40-year high in July, pushing the 2-year Gilt yields to its highest since November 2008 of 2.41% on Wednesday, as higher food and fuel costs kept the country’s tight squeeze on households.

The British consumer price index (CPI) increased 10.1% in the previous month, its highest level since February 1982 and higher than the 9.4% annual rate reached in June, while the core CPI that excludes energy and food prices was up from June’s 5.8% to 6.2% in the same period.

Thursday, Aug. 18: Asian Currencies Drop on Fed’s Rate Hike Plans

Asian currencies were mainly in the red on Thursday as investors tried to make sense of the vague signals from the Federal Reserve regarding its rate hike plans, while the Chinese yuan dropped on increasing concerns over a slowdown in the country’s property sector.

The yuan lost 0.2% to 6.79 and was at risk of a three-month low as market players grew worried about a recession in the world’s second-largest economy, while minutes of the Fed’s July meeting had the Indian rupee falling 0.3%, the South Korean won losing 0.5%, and the Japanese trading at 135.31

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