Latest Developments

Europe
BBC Business

Celebrity influencers paid up to £1m to advertise deodorant on Instagram

The #ad posts on your feed may look relaxed, personal and spontaneous but behind many of them is a carefully planned campaign, a detailed contract and, in some cases, a seven-figure fee. For Charlie Bowes-Lyon, the co-founder of Wild, a refillable natural deodorant, influencer marketing has been a huge part of the company's success and he calls it his "secret sauce". Wild, which was bought by Unilever last year, uses high-profile names including Stacey Solomon, Emma Raducanu and Molly-Mae Hague to promote its products on Instagram. Bowes-Lyon says the brand has spent millions on its partnership with Raducanu and hundreds of thousands on campaigns with Solomon and Hague. Hannah Campbell, founder of influencer marketing agency One Twelve Agency, says brands are using influencers over traditional adverts because "they do actually influence". "They have built audiences and communities that trust them, and the old adage 'people buy from people' is true. "Consumers, especially younger audiences, aren't engaging with traditional media but they do follow and engage with their favourite influencers daily." Influencer marketing is now such a big part of Wild's business that it employs a team of more than 20 solely dedicated to working on this. The company's yearly influencer marketing budget is just under £10m, "but next year that may double as we look for larger brand ambassadors", says Bowes-Lyon. How much the company spends on influencer marketing "can vary from £100,000 through to millions if you want a top-tier celebrity", says Bowes-Lyon. He says a lot of it also depends on the depth of the campaign as "if you want them to do a one-off post you wouldn't pay too much but typically what they and you want is to develop is a bit more of a relationship". British tennis player Emma Raducanu is Wild's current brand ambassador and has been working with the brand for the past year.

Celebrity influencers paid up to £1m to advertise deodorant on Instagram
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

India’s edible oil import bill up 20% in first 8 months

With India’s edible oil import bill up over 20 per cent in the first eight months of the oil year 2025-26 (November-October), the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) forecasts it to touch ₹1.75 lakh crore by the oil year-end. In his monthly letter to SEA members on Wedensday, Sanjeev Asthana, President of SEA, said India stands at a defining moment in its edible oil journey, and the warning signs are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. The country’s edible oil import bill, which stood at ₹1.61 lakh crore last year, is now projected to cross an unprecedented ₹1.75 lakh crore this year. During November-June of the current oil year alone, imports have already exceeded 104 lakh tonnes, with the import bill rising from ₹99,000 crore to ₹1.19 lakh crore, an increase of nearly ₹20,000 crore in just eight months (a growth of 20.20 per cent). “This is not merely another statistic; it represents a substantial outflow of precious foreign exchange that could otherwise be channelled into strengthening India’s agricultural infrastructure,” he said. Stating that a weaker rupee has made imports costlier, Asthana said at the same time weather uncertainties, including below-normal monsoon forecasts and delayed sowing in several oilseed-growing regions, are raising concerns over domestic production. He said global developments are adding further pressure. Indonesia’s expanding biodiesel programme is diverting larger quantities of palm oil from food to fuel, tightening global supplies, while geopolitical uncertainties and higher freight and insurance costs continue to keep international edible oil prices volatile. “The net effect is that India may be compelled to import more, and pay considerably more for every tonne. While imports will continue to play an important role, India’s long-term answer cannot lie in importing more — it must lie in producing more,” he said. Expressing concerns over the delayed monsoon, he said the South-West monsoon has been uneven this year, with several oilseed-growing regions recording rainfall well below normal. Stating that initial kharif sowing data already reflect this stress, he said groundnut, soybean and sunflower sowing has lagged behind last year’s pace, and overall oilseed acreage has remained substantially lower at 147 lakh hectares as on July 17 compared to 155.7 lakh hectares, down by 8.6 lakh hectares, for the same period of last year. Particular concern is the possibility of weaker rainfall during the critical August-September flowering period, which could adversely affect oilseed yields and further deplete reservoir levels, with implications for the forthcoming rabi season as well. “The silver lining is that sowing delays do not necessarily translate into lower production; historically, acreage has caught up once rainfall improves. The coming weeks will therefore be decisive in determining whether kharif 2026 regains momentum, or whether India faces yet another year of heightened import dependence,” Asthana said. Referring to the recent calls by the Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), S Mahendra Dev, for incentive-driven crop diversification towards oilseeds and pulses, he said these calls reinforce a direction SEA has consistently advocated.

India’s edible oil import bill up 20% in first 8 months
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Brent crude above $95 drags Nifty below 24,000 for third straight session

Indian equity benchmarks extended losses for a third straight session on Wednesday, with the Sensex falling 715 points and the Nifty slipping below 24,000 as Brent crude climbed above $95 a barrel amid escalating tensions in West Asia. Equity markets extended their losing streak into a third consecutive session on Wednesday, as a sharp surge in crude oil prices and escalating geopolitical tensions in West Asia rattled investor sentiment, overshadowing a largely encouraging start to the earnings season. The Nifty 50 closed at 23,996.25, down 191.45 points or 0.79 per cent, slipping below the psychologically significant 24,000 mark. The Sensex fell 715.06 points or 0.92 per cent to settle at 76,755.05. The broader market fared worse, the Nifty Midcap 100 declined 1.09 per cent, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 fell 1.53 per cent, with market breadth turning sharply negative, decliners outpacing gainers roughly 2:1. Brent crude climbed above $95 a barrel, a five-week high, while WTI breached $88, as US strikes on Iran continued and peace talks remained stalled, stoking fresh fears over supply disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz. “Rising oil is now the market’s central risk... results alone won’t be enough to change direction,” said Sarvam Goel, Founder, Pocketful. Sector performance was broadly weak. Real estate, media, and PSU banks were among the steepest losers, while pharma stocks came under additional pressure after US President Donald Trump announced a phased tariff plan on generic drug imports: zero tariffs for two years, followed by 100 per cent in year three and 200 per cent thereafter. Auto and FMCG were the only sectors to end in positive territory. On the earnings front, Bajaj Auto hit a fresh 52-week high after reporting strong Q1FY27 numbers, and Nestlé India gained over 3 per cent after posting a 48 per cent year-on-year jump in net profit to ₹959 crore on revenue of ₹6,378 crore. Bandhan Bank, however, plunged nearly 19 per cent despite reporting a 37 per cent rise in profit to ₹1,037 crore, after the bank lowered its return-on-assets guidance for FY27 due to expected margin pressure from rising deposit costs. The Indian rupee weakened by 32 paise to close at 96.56 against the US dollar, pressured by surging crude oil prices and a stronger dollar. Gold hit a two-week high of $4,140, while silver edged closer to $60, rallying amid ongoing tensions in West Asia. India VIX surged 5.6 per cent, reflecting heightened market anxiety. Ajit Mishra, SVP Research at Religare Broking, noted that “rotational buying across sectors continues to offer stock-specific trading opportunities,” while cautioning that the 23,650–23,800 zone could be retested in the near term, with 24,150–24,300 likely to cap any rebound. Thursday brings a heavy earnings calendar, with results from Infosys, NTPC, BPCL, InterGlobe Aviation, and Cipla due. Investors will also watch the ECB interest rate decision and US jobless claims data. Analysts at Motilal Oswal expect markets to “trade sideways with a marginal negative bias” as long as crude remains elevated and geopolitical uncertainty persists. Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

Brent crude above $95 drags Nifty below 24,000 for third straight session
North America
CNBC Economy

China consumer price growth weakens in June while producer inflation rises to near 4-year high

China's consumer prices grew slower than expected in June, while wholesale inflation accelerated, as elevated energy costs continued to sap domestic demand. Consumer prices rose 1% in June from a year ago, missing economists' estimates of 1.1% growth in a Reuters poll, and slowing from 1.2% in May, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday. Core CPI, excluding volatile food and energy prices, also rose 1% in June from a year earlier, edging down from the 1.1% increase in May. Food prices declined 1.6% from a year earlier, easing from a fall of 1.7% in May. The producer price index jumped 4.1% from a year earlier, in line with economists' forecast and outpacing May's 3.9%. That marked the strongest growth since July 2022, according to LSEG data. On a month-on-month basis, however, PPI declined 0.3%, official data showed. "Oil prices are by and large on an easing course, and this will prevent PPI from going higher," said Tianchen Xu, senior economist at Economist Intelligence Unit, while attributing the year-on-year strength to the low-base effect. "Factories can't fully pass on cost increases to downstream clients," Xu added, highlighting the entrenched weakness in domestic demand. The producer prices recorded its worst decline in almost two years in June last year, falling 3.6% from the prior year, as a deepening price war rippled through the economy. They returned to growth in March with input costs rising on the back of the Middle East conflict, helping end one of China's longest deflationary streaks in decades. Besides higher commodity costs owed to war-led supply disruptions, wholesale prices have also been lifted by a growing demand for artificial intelligence computing power, pushing up prices for tech equipment and semiconductors. China's manufacturing activity expanded faster than expected in June, with experts citing external demand including for AI-related tech as driving the momentum. Many investors in China increasingly view the two-speed growth — marked by robust exports versus weak consumption and housing market — as a defining long-term feature of the Chinese economy, said Neo Wang, China strategist at Evercore ISI. Consumer sentiment remains subdued as households continue to grapple with the negative wealth effect stemming from the prolonged housing downturn, Wang added. The export and manufacturing-led economic resilience is expected to reinforce Beijing's reluctance to roll out stimulus to revive tepid consumer demand. "Policymakers are likely to refrain from major new stimulus unless the slowdown persists beyond the conflict," said Gabriel Wildau, managing director at Teneo. Wildau points to a top policy meeting by the 24-member Politburo of the Communist Party in late July as "the next opportunity to escalate policy stimulus."

China consumer price growth weakens in June while producer inflation rises to near 4-year high
Asia-Pacific
The Straits Times

How getting burned by penny stocks in uni taught Maybank managing director to invest prudently

Chong Wee Yeat, managing director at Maybank Singapore, says his penny stock-investing days in university taught him valuable lessons. Sign up for ST InvestMe and unlock full access to exclusive insights and financial literacy courses today. SINGAPORE – Chong Wee Yeat has had a storied, global career spanning momentous eras like the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak. But it was his penny stock-investing days in university – when he had to swallow losses – that strongly influenced his investing mindset today, teaching him to invest prudently. “Like many first-time investors, my early forays were modest and not particularly successful,” the managing director and head of global banking at Maybank Singapore says of his undergraduate years at the National University of Singapore. He started dabbling in the Singapore stock market after taking a financial investment module. “I gravitated towards penny stocks, attracted by the promise of quick gains, but quickly learnt how volatile and unforgiving that space can be.” The 49-year-old adds: “That early experience shaped how I think about investing today. If I were to invest in equities now, I would favour strong, fundamentally sound dividend-paying stocks that offer steadier returns and a clearer balance between risk and reward in the long term, rather than chasing short-term price movements.” Now, Chong says, stability and steady, sustainable growth are important to him, especially since he has experienced global events that have rocked markets. Across his career, he has had a front-row seat to unfolding global events. In 2001, he was in San Francisco when the Sept 11 terrorist attacks shook the United States. “It was a formative period, one where I witnessed first-hand how global events can abruptly reshape markets and sentiment. I still keep newspaper clippings from that time as a reminder of how quickly certainty can disappear,” he says. Those experiences taught Chong about the fragility of normality and how easily markets and the status quo can be destabilised by uncertainty.

How getting burned by penny stocks in uni taught Maybank managing director to invest prudently
Europe
BBC Business

The mysterious crypto firm backed by Farage's biggest donor

In fact, the single biggest buyer of the precious metal last year was a company you've probably never heard of – a crypto firm called Tether. The El Salvador-based company runs USDT, the world's biggest stablecoin, which is a form of crypto backed up by hard currency. It serves as a conduit between riskier, volatile cryptocurrencies and the conventional finance system, essentially used as an offshore dollar. Yet Tether bought more gold last year than anyone, according to European Central Bank data. It keeps it stored in a James Bond-style Swiss former nuclear bunker, according to Tether's boss. Tether says it also owns as much US Government debt as some G20 nation states, some $135bn (£101bn), which is more than South Korea. It is a huge player, almost taking on the characteristics of a private central bank. Yet it employs just 200 people. It is also, perhaps inadvertently, entangled in the questions around the funding of Nigel Farage's Reform party. Last August, Harborne gave £9m in cash to Farage's Reform party – the biggest party donation in British history. He gave a further £3m to Reform in October and an additional £3m in January. All the donations were declared. Harborne had given £5m directly to Farage, a previously undisclosed personal gift which was the subject of parliamentary investigations, before Farage resigned as an MP. Farage and Harborne have both said there were no strings attached to the personal gift, nor to the political donations to Reform. The Bank of England's governor Andrew Bailey recently confirmed that Farage raised the issue of cryptocurrency regulation and the related issue of central bank digital currencies with him in September last year.

The mysterious crypto firm backed by Farage's biggest donor
North America
CNBC Finance

Used EVs keep getting more expensive amid Iran war, high gas prices

DETROIT — The Iran war and high U.S. gas prices are causing a surge in demand for used all-electric vehicles, which is making the pre-owned vehicles more expensive, according to Cox Automotive. The company on Wednesday reported that its Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index for EVs — which tracks prices of used vehicles sold at its U.S. wholesale auctions — increased 12% last month compared with June 2025. That compares with a 1.7% increase for non-EVs over the same period. Wholesale EV prices have increased every month this year, leading to an 11.5% jump in average pricing to roughly $30,400, according to Manheim. Non-EVs, meanwhile, have seen a less than 1% increase this year in average pricing, to $19,125, Manheim said. The average used EV listing price as of May was $37,083, according to Cox's Kelley Blue Book. Retail prices for consumers traditionally follow changes in wholesale prices. "EVs continue to show strong performance, while prices for SUVs and Pickups falter compared to this time last year," Manheim said in a release. Cox reports used EV sales to consumers reached 42,923 units in May, up 5.5% month over month and 24.7% year over year, with used EV market share holding at 2.8%. Tesla models are estimated to have led with 15,353 units sold, followed by sales of Hyundai, Chevrolet, Ford and BMW all-electric vehicles. Jonathan Gregory, senior director of Cox Automotive, said gas prices are expected to continue to determine whether vehicle costs will rise amid an expected influx of off-lease EVs coming later this year. A growing number of used EVs are expected to the market through the end of the year after automakers bumped up their sales of all-electric vehicles with leasing offers three years ago. "The risk we're watching for the second half is that steep ramp in off-lease supply, EVs especially, which could pressure specific segments even as the headline holds firm. Gas is the swing factor: If pump prices keep falling, some of that EV demand could fade as availability increases," Gregory said. AAA reports the national average for gas prices is up roughly 21% from a year ago, to a national average of $3.80 a gallon. Those prices have come down from recent highs, but escalating combat in Iran caused oil prices to jump Wednesday. The increased demand and rise in the price of used EV are contrary to those for new all-electric vehicles. Many automakers reported that they saw sharp sales declines for new EVs during the second quarter. Aside from automakers pulling back billions of dollars for new EVs, the year-over-year comparison is difficult. EV demand began to spike last year during the second quarter ahead of expectations that the Trump administration would end up to $7,500 in incentives for consumers to purchase an EV.

Used EVs keep getting more expensive amid Iran war, high gas prices
Europe
The Guardian

Tripling US union membership would shift $1.2tn to workers annually – report

A delegate holds a ‘Union Yes!’ sign during the Democratic national convention in Chicago in August 2024. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenA delegate holds a ‘Union Yes!’ sign during the Democratic national convention in Chicago in August 2024. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty ImagesUS unionsTripling US union membership would shift $1.2tn to workers annually – reportMore density would also narrow racial pay gaps, while a decline in density correlated to surges in wealth inequality Tripling union membership in the US would lead to a 14.5% raise for the median US worker, shifting $1.2tn to workers annually and significantly narrowing racial wage gaps, according to a new report released on Wednesday. The report from the Economic Policy Institute notes that union membership rates across the workforce, also known as union density, was once three times as high as it is today. Union density in the 1950s was more than 30% before it started to decline in the 1960s. By the 1980s, union density dropped to 22.2% only to decline even further in recent decades, to 10% in 2025. Despite the lower union density, public approval of labor unions has remained high in recent years, with more than 68% of Americans viewing unions favorably in 2025. More than 50 million US workers would join a union if they could. The report notes that the decline in union density comes amid aggressive union busting by corporations and new anti-union laws. Declines in union density have also correlated to surges in wealth and income inequality. Since 1979, worker productivity has increased in the US at a pace 2.7 times faster than the pace of pay increases for workers. “By making it harder and harder for workers to organize and bargain collectively, the rich seized more and more income and wealth, destroying the US middle class,” Robert Reich, former US secretary of labor, writes in the foreword of the report. “Now the wealth of the richest Americans has exploded: the richest 0.1% own more than five times the combined wealth of the entire bottom half of the country.” If union density in the US tripled to 30%, the median worker would see a 14.5% raise amounting to $7,700 annually – over $1.2tn annually to workers – or nearly $270,000 over a 35-year career. It would also narrow the racial wage gap and increase health insurance coverage. These changes would reverse one-third of the rise in inequality since 1979, according to the report. Wage premiums that come with union membership are historically between 15% to 20%, according to the report, and may be underestimated due to low union density. Collective bargaining agreements also increase wages across the board for non-union workers. “I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with workers, no matter where you go – big city, small town – who basically are saying over and over again: ‘My rent keeps going up, my paycheck does not stretch as far as it used to, I walk into the grocery store and I ask myself, when did shit get so expensive?’ It is just a constant.” said Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions in the US, during a press conference on Wednesday. The report also offered a roadmap on how union membership can increase, including passing the Protecting the Right to Organize Act that would strengthen collective bargaining rights and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act that would guarantee collective bargaining rights for public sector workers. The report also cites proposals that would guarantee annual raises for newly unionized workers and require collective bargaining at companies where the CEO to worker pay ratio exceeds 100:1. Revoking “right to work” laws and restrictions on public sector bargaining would alone increase union density in the US from 9.9% to 14.4%, according to the report. Personal health and wellbeing are also cited in the report as benefits of increasing union density, as states with high union densities have more public education investments, Medicaid expansions and voting rights.

Tripling US union membership would shift $1.2tn to workers annually – report
North America
CNBC Economy

'Funflation' hits home: Why staying in isn't the cost-saver it used to be

For decades, video games have been a go-to hobby for Alyx Green. But in recent years, Green has felt priced out. Instead of buying the biggest releases, the Illinois graduate student has opted for cheaper alternatives from smaller studios or turned to board and card games. In some cases, the 31-year-old watches videos of others playing hot games on YouTube in lieu of actually playing. U.S. consumers have for years grappled with "funflation," used to describe the sharply higher prices for live experiences like concerts or sporting events that were halted during pandemic lockdowns. Sticker shock first felt by consumers outside the home is now following them into their living rooms. After a wave of price hikes from some of the world's largest companies, including Amazon, Apple and Netflix, even at-home pastimes like streaming movies or playing video games are pinching the pocketbooks of consumers like Green. Exclusive data analyzed for CNBC by PNC Financial Services shows that, as pricing pressures mounted, the average consumer pulled back on home entertainment in June compared with a year ago. That was most prominent among Gen Z and Millennial consumers, who each cut their transactions by about 4%. "We're seeing that very clearly in things like travel, entertainment, concerts," LeBlanc said. Now, "we're also starting to see it more in home leisure." Microsoft's Xbox and Apple each announced price hikes for devices in late June, which Apple acknowledged in a statement was "not welcome news." A month earlier, Nintendo said that it was raising the price of its Switch 2 in the U.S. by 11%. Companies blamed higher prices on more expensive components as a result of the artificial intelligence-driven memory chip crunch. Deborah Weinswig, founder of Coresight Research, said some of the increases could price out consumers. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said in recent interviews that gaming is becoming unaffordable and that the company will focus on making less-costly consoles. Microsoft announced this week that it was laying off thousands of workers in its Xbox unit and spinning off several gaming studios. "We've reached a point where it will be hard to imagine that mass audiences can afford thousands of dollars to spend on a console generation," Sharma said on stage during a Fortune event early last month. Computers and related devices had gotten cheaper over time, adjusted for inflation and their capacity, as production became more efficient. But that trend has begun to reverse as component costs take off, meaning the disinflationary relief for shoppers looks to be coming to an end, said Elizabeth Renter, NerdWallet senior economist.

'Funflation' hits home: Why staying in isn't the cost-saver it used to be