We start the day with news that UK chip designer Arm Holdings has secured a bumper $54.5bn valuation ahead of its first day of trading. It comes after the Softbank-backed company priced shares at the top of its initial estimate, at $51 each, as investors scrambled for a piece of the action in the biggest IPO of the year. Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: 'Despite some concerns about the company’s exposure to numerous risks in China, it’s not stopped a juggernaut of enthusiasm, with the IPO oversubscribed multiple times, with interest from tech giants like Nvidia, Apple and Alphabet. 'Given the eagerness from investors, it seems Arm could have pushed for an even higher price, but is playing it safe to try to ensure a surge in the share price once trading gets underway.' We’ll bring you further reaction, and Arm’s first market moves, in the hours ahead. Disappointing news from the John Lewis Partnership this morning. The partnership, which runs John Lewis department stores and Waitrose supermarkets, reported a £59m pre-tax loss in the six months to July. While that is an improvement on the £99.2m loss reported during the same period last year, the company said it was still struggling due to the ripple effects of high inflation, which has racked up costs and resulted in customers being more cautious with their spending. The partnership said inflation – which increased its costs by £179m last year – is also partly to blame for its failure to deliver on its turnaround plan, which is now going to be delayed by two years. The UK arm of German discount supermarket Lidl has swung to an annual loss, as attempts to keep prices low for customers, paired with higher costs and inflation, weighed on performance. Lidl GB reported a £76m pre-tax loss in the 12 months to February, down from a pre-tax profit of £41m The agenda • 9:30am BST: UK Covid loan data • 1:15pm BST: ECB interest rate announcement & press conference • 1.30pm BST: US PPI, retail sales, and weekly jobless claims • 2:30pm BST: US markets open for trading We’ll be tracking all the main events throughout the day ...
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