On August 31 local time, Iranian Armed Forces senior spokesman Shekarchi asserted that the United States cannot claim the Strait of Hormuz as its own and that Tehran is determined to expel American forces from West Asia.

He said Iran has employed new asymmetric tactics against highly advanced joint U.S.-Israeli weapon systems in an unequal conflict, claiming to have inflicted heavy losses on the U.S.-Israel coalition.

The spokesman also said Iranian drones and ballistic missiles penetrated defenses and hit U.S. bases and predetermined targets in occupied territories, although at a steep economic cost.

LIV Golf appears poised to seek bankruptcy protection as early as next week, according to people familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg.

Shengyi Electronics said its wholly owned subsidiary Ji'an Shengyi Electronics will invest about 2.257 billion yuan in a high-speed interconnect circuit board manufacturing project named Chip-Smart Connectivity, focused on AI servers and automotive electronics.

The project has a 36-month construction period and is expected to start on September 28, 2026. When completed, it will add 445,900 square meters of annual capacity for high-end HDI boards of four or more layers.

About 2.158 billion yuan of the total investment is new spending; the remainder has already been used for plant construction.

Shengyi said the project aims to free up more capacity for four-layer-and-above high-end HDI products.

The project still requires government filing and approvals for environmental and energy assessments.

Jiemian News noted the expansion comes as Shengyi Electronics is pursuing other capacity projects, including the Dongguan AI computing HDI base, which began construction in the first half of the year.

In the first half of 2026, Shengyi Electronics reported revenue of 5.784 billion yuan, up 53.46% from a year earlier, and net profit attributable to shareholders of 1.111 billion yuan, up 109.36%, with a gross margin of 34.31%.

As of June 30, the company carried 407 million yuan in cash, 3.725 billion yuan in accounts receivable, 2.29 billion yuan in inventory, and 4.012 billion yuan in notes and accounts payable, with 2.142 billion yuan in short-term borrowings. The debt-to-asset ratio rose to 53.76% from 45% a year earlier.

The company warned the project could be delayed, changed, suspended or terminated if financing falls short or if market demand, product prices or the overall business rollout deviates materially from expectations.

Australian private credit funds are seeking to reassure investors after the Bathla Group collapse, according to Bloomberg.

The incident has sparked fears that the industry’s sizable exposure to the property sector could be turning sour.

Two people familiar with the matter said the Trump administration is expected to approve a broader exemption from U.S. refinery biofuel blending requirements as early as Monday to ease pressure from rising gasoline prices.

The Environmental Protection Agency is anticipated to grant a new annual round of exemptions to a group of small refineries, covering more than 1.8 billion renewable fuel credits, with Marathon Petroleum and Chevron among the companies seeking exemptions.

People familiar with the matter also said the EPA is considering a plan to offset the impact on farmers by reopening 2027 biofuel quotas and adding about 500 million renewable fuel credits, possibly more.

Bloomberg reported that Arminio Fraga, a prominent figure in Brazil’s hedge-fund sector, said earlier this month he would transfer his funds to the country’s fourth-largest bank as double-digit rates complicate keeping such a fund open.

He added that the returns available from Brazil’s rate environment are now too high to attract a sufficient number of clients.

Southbound turnover surged for Zhipu (02513), MiniMax (00100) and Meituan (03690), with Zhipu and MiniMax among the top-10 names in the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and Meituan among the top 10 in the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect, according to ETNet.

Zhipu posted combined southbound turnover of HK$4.581 billion and a net sell of HK$858 million. MiniMax recorded combined turnover of HK$3.874 billion and a net sell of HK$525 million. Meituan had combined turnover of HK$2.273 billion and a net sell of HK$1.189 billion.

China Construction Bank (00939) and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (01398) also returned to the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect top 10 after 81 days and 82 days respectively. Southbound investors bought HK$275 million and HK$166 million of the two lenders, while selling HK$1.306 billion and HK$745 million, leaving net sales of HK$1.03 billion and HK$579 million.

Shandong Gold (01787) re-entered the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect top 10 after 135 days. Southbound investors bought HK$281 million and sold HK$376 million, resulting in a net sell of HK$95.32 million.

An equity filing shows Wong Wai-Kee widened his stake in Hong Kong Technology Venture (stock code 1137) by 159,000 shares on August 28, at an average price of HK$1.0284 per share. The disclosure lifts his ownership from 46.7% to 46.72%, Ming Pao reported.

Evergrande Property (06666) reported an interim net profit of RMB 517 million for the six months ended June 30, 2026, up 9.5% from a year earlier.

The group said it will not declare an interim dividend.

Revenue for the period rose 4.5% to RMB 6.943 billion. Basic earnings per share stood at 5 fen.

In a discussion on the Milk Road Show, Bitmine chairman Tom Lee said that asset tokenization and AI-driven finance will be the dominant crypto narratives over the next five years, with Ethereum positioned as a potential global settlement layer for finance.

Lee noted that ETH remains significantly undervalued relative to Bitcoin, according to ChainCatcher.

He outlined four catalysts for Ethereum in the remainder of 2026: the possible passage of the U.S. Clarity Act in September; the return of offshore short positions and sidelined capital; renewed Asian investor allocations into crypto assets; and greater activity from global institutional fund managers seeking to outperform through quarterly performance considerations.

He suggested the ETH/BTC ratio could revisit its historical high near 0.08, and even a move to 0.04 could place Ethereum around $6,000 if Bitcoin reaches about $150,000.

Beyond Bitcoin, Lee acknowledged long-term upside but emphasized that the broader trend for the crypto industry over the next five years will be a supercycle of full asset tokenization and AI-driven finance.