The pandemic triggered a two-month recession last year that began in February 2020 and ended in April, making it the shortest on record.

MGM Resorts International formally proposed building a $9 billion casino resort in Osaka, reinvigorating its push to open Japan’s first casino gambling facility after pandemic-related delays.

Nasdaq Inc. is teaming up with a group of banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley to spin out its marketplace for shares of private companies. Under current regulations, such deals are typically limited to accredited investors.

Athene Holding Ltd., the insurer and annuity seller backed by Apollo Global Management Inc., agreed to acquire a mortgage lender from Fortress Investment Group as it seeks to pick up assets in the U.K. With the purchase of Foundation Home Loans, Athene will pick up a 3 billion-pound ($4.2 billion) portfolio of mortgages to be managed by Apollo.

In June, the average transaction price for a new vehicle was $39,942, an increase of 14% from June 2020. The average transaction price for a used vehicle was $27,984, up 24% from June 2020.

Blackstone will enter into a long-term agreement with AIG Life to manage an initial $50 billion in assets, with the amount increasing to nearly $100 billion over the next six years. The private-equity firm would also pay $2.2 billion for a 9.9% stake in AIG’s life-insurance and retirement-services unit.

U.S. consumer prices continued to accelerate in June at the fastest pace in 13 years as the recovery from the pandemic gained steam. The consumer-price index increased 5.4% in June from a year earlier. Excluding volatile food and energy categories, prices rose 4.5% from a year earlier, the most in 30 years.

The share of U.S. restaurant and hotel workers leaving their jobs hit a two-decade high in May at 5.7%. Though the latest jobs report shows restaurants and bars added 194,000 jobs in June, employment at such establishments remains down by 1.3 million jobs since the pandemic began.

MGM Resorts entered into a definitive agreement to purchase Infinity World Development’s 50% interest in the massive mixed-used CityCenter complex for $2.1 billion, a price that represents an implied valuation of $5.8 billion based on net debt of $1.5 billion. MGM Resorts then plans to sell the properties to affiliates of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust for $3.89 billion in cash, which represents a multiple of 18.1 times rent. Following the acquisition, both properties are to be leased back to MGM Resorts for initial annual rent of $215 million.

The Baird-STR Hotel Stock Index declined by 3% in June, underperforming both the S&P 500 and RMZ indexes, which were both up 2.2% for the month.