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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
North America
CNBC Finance

A tiny GLP-1 implant is the latest bet to help patients maintain their weight loss

Losing weight with GLP-1 drugs is only half the battle. Keeping it off long term has proved even harder. Factors such as side effects, high out-of-pocket costs, injection fatigue and stigma around obesity treatment drive troves of patients – some studies estimate roughly half or more – to stop GLP-1s within a year and risk regaining the weight they lost. Years from now, Vivani Medical believes a tiny GLP-1 implant placed under the skin could help address that problem. The biotech company is in the early stages of developing an experimental implant of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk's blockbuster obesity injection Wegovy and diabetes counterpart Ozempic. The Danish pharma giant announced on Tuesday a new agreement with Vivani to evaluate its lead semaglutide implant, NPM-139. Vivani envisions patients would initially use it as a maintenance treatment rather than a therapy people take when they start GLP-1s. Under that approach, patients would first reach an appropriate dose of semaglutide using existing injections or pills, then potentially switch to the implant for longer-term treatment. If everything goes to plan, Vivani believes the device could eventually serve as a convenient option administered just twice a year — or even once annually — to help patients stay on therapy and maintain weight loss, while potentially reducing some side effects associated with existing GLP-1 medicines. "It's really critical to have options that make it easy for people to get the full benefits of these treatments and to not discontinue at the rates we're seeing," Vivani President and CEO Adam Mendelsohn said in an interview. "What these drugs are capable of is not being carefully taken advantage of right now." But the implant is still at least several years out from living up to that promise. The device needs to clear several clinical trials and regulatory hurdles before reaching patients. Some endocrinologists and other doctors said there could be demand for an implant, but they also want to see concrete data on how effective it will be compared with existing medicines and how well patients will tolerate it. They also raised questions about whether providers would be willing to adopt it. "I really want to see that this is going to work well and deliver results for patients, but I also want to see that it's something that my patients can stay on long term," Dr. Miranda Stiewig-Rapp, director of UC Davis Health's Obesity Clinic, said in an interview. "I'm probably overall very skeptical, but I'm happy to be proven wrong." The potential cost of the implant and whether insurers would cover it if approved also remain unclear. That makes it difficult to estimate what the implant's sales could be in a GLP-1 market that some analysts expect could exceed $100 billion by the early 2030s. In a statement to CNBC, Novo Nordisk confirmed the agreement with Vivani and said it is focused on complementing its internal research and development efforts with external innovation.

A tiny GLP-1 implant is the latest bet to help patients maintain their weight loss
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

HDFC Bank shares tumble over 8% in three days on net interest margin concerns

Although HDFC Bank reported a 5% year-on-year increase in June-quarter net profit to ₹19,060 crore and a 7% rise in net interest income, weaker operating profit, lower total income and pressure on margins weighed on investor sentiment. | Photo Credit: ANUSHREE FADNAVIS Shares of HDFC Bank declined for the third day in a row on Wednesday, falling over 8 per cent and wiping out Rs 1 lakh crore from its market valuation, amid concerns on the margin front. The stock ended at Rs 753.15, down 1.09 per cent on the BSE. During the day, it lost 1.47 per cent to Rs 750.25. In three days, the stock tanked 8.11 per cent, wiping out Rs 1 lakh crore from its market valuation, which stood at Rs 11,59,950.98 crore. With this, the company slipped to the third place in market capitalisation ranking. Bharti Airtel became the second most-valued firm with a market valuation of Rs 12,16,839.14 crore. Reliance Industries is the country’s most valued firm with a market cap of Rs 17,44,141.25 crore. According to market experts, HDFC Bank has disappointed, particularly on the NIM (Net Interest Margins) front. HDFC Bank on Saturday reported a 5 per cent increase in standalone net profit to Rs 19,060 crore for the June quarter. The country’s biggest private-sector lender had earned a net profit of Rs 18,155 crore in the year-ago period. However, total income of the bank during the quarter under review dropped to Rs 92,184 crore from Rs 99,200 crore in the same period a year ago, HDFC Bank said in a regulatory filing. The lender’s interest income increased to Rs 79,363 crore from Rs 77,470 crore in the same quarter a year ago. During the period, operating profit of the bank declined to Rs 28,169 crore, as compared to Rs 35,734 crore in the same quarter a year ago. Net interest income grew 7 per cent to Rs 33,530 crore for the June quarter from Rs 31,440 crore a year ago, it said.

HDFC Bank shares tumble over 8% in three days on net interest margin concerns
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

IMD Update: Active monsoon to bring heavy rain in coastal districts of Bengal

An active southwest monsoon is likely to bring heavy rainfall in the coastal districts of West Bengal till June 24, the India Meteorological Department said on Wednesday. The northern districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar could receive heavy downpour from July 26-29, the IMD said in a bulletin. It said heavy rainfall will occur in the coastal districts of North and South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur till July 24. The sub-Himalayan districts, which received heavy rainfall over the last several days, are likely to experience light to moderate rain over the next few days, the bulletin stated. Haldia in Purba Medinipur district received the highest rainfall in the state at 79 mm in the past 24 hours till 8.30 am on Wednesday. Other places that were lashed by heavy rain during the period include Kanthi (55 mm), Asansol (53 mm), Bankura (46 mm) and Alipurduar (34 mm), the bulletin said. Thunderstorms accompanied by gusty winds with speeds reaching 30-40 kmph are likely to occur over Kolkata during the next three days, the IMD added. 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.

IMD Update: Active monsoon to bring heavy rain in coastal districts of Bengal
Europe
The Guardian

US state attorneys general file lawsuit in effort to block Paramount merger

The Paramount logo on the water tower at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, California. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenThe Paramount logo on the water tower at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, California. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty ImagesMedia businessUS state attorneys general file lawsuit in effort to block Paramount mergerBipartisan group argue in lawsuit that $110bn merger would hurt competition and lead to thousands of job losses A dozen US state attorneys general are seeking to block the $110bn merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros Discovery, arguing in a lawsuit filed on Monday that it would hurt competition and lead to higher prices for consumers. The coalition behind the lawsuit is led by the California attorney general, Rob Bonta, who has been a staunch critic of the merger since it was agreed to in February after a bidding war between David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance and Netflix. The lawsuit was joined by the states of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington. “Today, I am leading a coalition of states in challenging the proposed merger of Warner Bros and Paramount and asking the court to block the deal,” Bonta said in a statement. “The unlawful merger of these two entertainment behemoths would lead to higher prices, lower quality, and less content for film and television, harming movie theaters, basic cable distributors, and ultimately, audiences on every sofa and movie theater seat in the US.” Bonta and his fellow state attorneys general are now asking a judge to stop the merger until the judicial process plays out. “In this country, no one is above the law,” he said. “With this lawsuit, California and our sister states are fighting for free and fair markets, not rigged markets. America has no kings in government or our economy.” The lawsuit was filed in US district court for the northern district of California. The widely anticipated lawsuit comes a month after the US Department of Justice signed off on the deal, clearing a major obstacle for the merger. While dozens of countries have also agreed to the deal, it still awaits approval from regulators in the UK and Europe. On 30 June, Lisa Nandy, the UK culture secretary, said she was “minded” to intervene and asked both the communications regulator, Ofcom, and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to further investigate the deal, which would delay its timeline. Paramount Skydance and Ellison have maintained that the merger will increase competition and preserve the Hollywood theatrical status quo. “The lawsuit filed by the state attorneys general, in the most generous light, reflects a fundamentally flawed application of the antitrust laws and is wrong on both the facts and the law,” Paramount said in a statement on Monday. “We will vigorously defend the transaction and demonstrate that this challenge is inconsistent with sound competition policy and the competitive realities of the media marketplace. Delaying this transaction will only harm entertainment workers who have already suffered over recent years as technology has disrupted their livelihood and cost California tens of thousands of entertainment jobs.” The close ties between David Ellison; his father, the Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison; and members of the Trump administration have raised questions about whether the regulatory playing field was tilted toward the deal’s approval, despite the concerns of actors, journalists and many prominent politicians. “Antitrust enforcement is democracy’s check on oligarchy,” Bonta told reporters in a press conference. “Antitrust enforcement is a check on billionaires currying favor with the president so he’ll do their bidding.”

US state attorneys general file lawsuit in effort to block Paramount merger
Europe
BBC Business

The SpaceX IPO made history. One month on has it lost momentum?

ByKali HaysTechnology reporterPublished13 July 2026, 06:01 BSTUpdated 8 minutes agoSpaceX investors have swung from celebration to apparent concern in its first month as a publicly traded company. When shares in the firm, co-founded and led by Elon Musk, first became available for individuals to buy on the public stock market on 12 June, there was an investor frenzy. Although the company had decided to price its shares at $135 each, the price immediately shot up to $150 that first day, climbing to $176, before closing at $160.95. The following week, its shares went up even further, hitting an intraday high of $225, meaning it had surpassed Amazon and Microsoft in total market value. "With Elon Musk, any company he touches gets people excited," Keith Snyder, analyst at investment research firm CFRA, said. "But this was also the first time people felt like they were able to invest in something that was being marketed as an AI play." Willy Lee, an investor at Neosteller, which facilitates individual investors putting money into private companies, agreed that the excitement around the IPO was very much around artificial intelligence (AI). SpaceX earlier this year acquired Musk's AI start-up xAI, recently renamed SpaceXAI, external and best known for the controversial chatbot Grok, and also started leasing data centre capacity to other tech companies. But its main business is the manufacture and launch of rockets and telecommunications satellites called Starlink. When Starlink said it was cutting prices in the Memphis, Tennessee area amid local concerns over a massive data centre project, SpaceX shares fell on the day by 8%. As the reality of how SpaceX currently makes money has seemed to come into clearer focus, the company's shares have started to sink. Even amid a tumultuous couple of weeks for tech stocks, SpaceX has taken a particular hit. When it was added to the Nasdaq100 index on 7 July, for instance, although the index closed down 1.7%, SpaceX fell 4.4%. An earlier addition to the FTSE Russell index had given the shares a slight boost. At the end of its first trading month, shares of SpaceX were selling at around $145 each, roughly 18% less than the high on its first day of trading, and 35% less than its peak so far.

The SpaceX IPO made history. One month on has it lost momentum?
Europe
The Guardian

Oil, gas and UK government borrowing costs prices jump as Middle East tensions ratchet higher – as it happened

Crude oil prices have hit their highest levels in four weeks, as Washington and Tehran traded attacks and the US reimposed a naval blockade of Iran. Brent crude has jumped $3.79 a barrel to $87.08 a barrel, a 4.55% increase, the highest since 12 June, before the ceasefire. The US and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding to end the conflict on 17 June and engaged in negotiations for a permanent peace deal. Iran said on Monday it was continuing talks with mediators from Qatar, Pakistan and Oman to try to prevent any further escalation. Donald Trump declared the ceasefire over last week but left the door to talks open. US West Texas Intermediate crude rose to a high of $81.25 a barrel, and is now trading at $80.92 a barrel, up 2.8%. What we think is that the peak of the escalation is behind us, but there are upside risks to oil prices if these disruptions continue and that will keep prices in the $85-$90 range.

Oil, gas and UK government borrowing costs prices jump as Middle East tensions ratchet higher – as it happened
Asia-Pacific
The Straits Times

Wall St ends lower for the day and week as chip sell-off broadens

Traders working on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during morning trading on July 17, in New York City. NEW YORK - Wall Street extended its decline on July 17 as a pullback on stocks associated with the AI boom, which has driven many of the gains so far this year, morphed into a larger risk-off sentiment. Semiconductor shares, which have led the broader market’s move in recent sessions, initially led the sell-off, which broadened as the session progressed. All three major US stock indexes closed lower on the day and posted weekly losses. The Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index logged its steepest weekly loss in over a year, and has tumbled over 18 per cent so far in July. Even so, the index remains up nearly 65 per cent year-to-date, compared with the S&P 500’s nearly 9 per cent gain over the same time frame. The SOX closed 20.2 per cent below its June 22 record closing high, confirming the index entered a bear market on that date. Some investors in the artificial intelligence space have begun positioning for a slowdown in the nearly trillion-dollar spending boom, with some active managers already scaling back their exposure, according to a Reuters analysis. “It’s like the market has chip fatigue,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group in Omaha, Nebraska. “Chip stocks are down three of the last four weeks, and it’s the same worries, the same concerns; those stocks got way ahead of themselves, and now they’re coming back to Earth.” Among the Magnificent Seven group of AI-related megacaps, all but Apple dipped, with Meta and Alphabet suffering the worst of it, down 2.7 per cent and 3.2 per cent, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 406.55 points, or 0.77 per cent, to 52,146.42, the S&P 500 lost 76.08 points, or 1.01 per cent, to 7,457.69 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 361.70 points, or 1.4 per cent, to 25,520.24. Among the major sectors of the S&P 500, communication services and consumer discretionary fell the most, while energy stocks were the sole gainers, benefiting from spiking crude prices amid signs of escalating hostilities in the Iran war. Second-quarter earnings season is still in its early days, with 49 of the companies in the S&P 500 having reported. Of those, 90 per cent have delivered better-than-expected results, according to LSEG. Analysts now see year-on-year S&P 500 earnings growth of 26 per cent, in aggregate, up from the 19.2 per cent expectations as of April 1, per LSEG.

Wall St ends lower for the day and week as chip sell-off broadens
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Andhra Pradesh faces 48% rainfall deficit, CM Naidu calls for water conservation

Andhra Pradesh has 48 percent rainfall deficit and people need to adopt sustainable water and environmental practices, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said. Speaking at the Swachh Andhra programme in Gudivada on Sunday, Naidu said “Net Zero” should become a way of life by minimising household waste and embracing carbon neutrality. The citizens should harvest rainwater and recharge groundwater to tackle recurring water shortages, Naidu said. The Chief Minister recalled that declining inflows into the Krishna Delta over a decade ago severely affected agriculture in the region, once known as the country’s “rice bowl.” The Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Project, completed within 12 months, had enabled the transfer of Godavari waters to the delta despite reduced inflows into the Prakasam Barrage this year, he added. According to him, nearly 450 TMC of water has been diverted so far, creating substantial agricultural wealth. The State government was commitment to completing the Polavaram Project and linking rivers from Vamsadhara to Penna to ensure drought-proof irrigation. Addressing aqua farmers, he assured continued support amid falling shrimp prices and rising feed costs, stating that discussions have already been held with the Central Government, according to a release. 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.

Andhra Pradesh faces 48% rainfall deficit, CM Naidu calls for water conservation