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Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Old is gold: Jewellers efforts to promote recycling pays rich dividend

The exchange of old gold jewellery for new ones has started picking pace with the recent fall in gold prices boosting purchases by consumers. Gold prices have moderated from the highs seen early this year. As of June 15, domestic gold prices have fallen 3.7 per cent while the international prices were down 4.2 per cent from the end of May. The divergence in prices were largely due to 5 per cent rupee depreciation against dollar and increase in import duty to 15 per cent. The rise in jewellery recycling comes little more than a month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to consumers to cut down on jewellery purchase and promote recycling old gold for fresh purchases to reduce imports and bridge the widening current account deficit. Rajesh Rokde, Chairman, All India Gem and Jewellery Domestic Council said since Prime Minister’s appeal, awareness regarding gold recycling and exchange has increased significantly. The industry has witnessed a steady rise in old gold collection through jewellers, refiners and exchange programs, he said. While the exact volume varies across different regions and stakeholders, industry estimates indicate that several hundred tonne of old gold are recycled annually in India, and the trend has strengthened further due to growing consumer awareness and trust in organised processes, he added. “Gold recycling is not just an economic opportunity, but also a sustainability initiative. Every gram of gold recycled reduces the need for fresh mining and imports while preserving value within the Indian economy,” said Rokde. Most leading retailers have launched targeted old gold exchange programme to attract consumers. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the share of business from exchange of old gold has risen between 5–15 per cent and accounts for as much as 60-70 per cent of sales. Arun Narayan, Chief Executive Officer, Jewellery Division, Titan Company said over the past 8 months, Tanishq has been calling out for jewellery purchases through old gold exchange which was strongly promoted in partnership with Sachin Tendulkar. “We are thankful to 4.4 lakh customers who have responded by exchanging over 10 tonne (worth over ₹1,200 crore) of gold in this short period. We remain committed to this purpose and welcome customers to experience the best exchange process at Tanishq that is most transparent and offers the best value for old gold,” he said. Suresh Krishnan, VP- Sales, PNG Jewellers said the newly launched nationwide initiative “Swarna Swaraj” to promote recycling across all the company’s showrooms has delivered good response. “Historically, old gold exchanges and recycling accounted for roughly 25-30 per cent of our consumer transaction mix. In recent quarters, that share has nearly doubled to 50-60 per cent of our retail sales composition,” said Krishnan. 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.

Old is gold: Jewellers efforts to promote recycling pays rich dividend
Europe
BBC Business

Watch: Three things to know about SpaceX's stock market debut

SpaceX will become a publicly traded company on Friday, in what is expected to be the highest-value stock listing in history. The BBC's Samira Hussain explains what it means for SpaceX's future and for the company's CEO, Elon Musk, who is set to become the world's first trillionaire. It is seen playing with a ball in his enclosure, only two days after his arrival. The peal of a full set of a 14th Century church's bells is heard once again across a parish. Watch the latest news summary from BBC World News. International news updated 24 hours a day. The princess had been in a coma for more than three years, and was 47 at the time of her death. The company behind the campaign said the first 100 people who could prove they had their US visa rejected would receive a television to watch the matches from home. There were wild celebrations in host nation Mexico, as their team kicked off their World Cup campaign with a 2-0 win over South Africa. The BBC spoke to match-goers outside Azteca Stadium, where Mexico began the tournament with a 2-0 victory over South Africa. The BBC's Gary O'Donoghue looks at the US president's mixed messaging over the war and the questions it raises. White House reporter Bernd Debusmann gets a preview of the temporary structure that will host a UFC fight 14 June. Vivian Panka, who plays Regina George, says she has been scared to leave her room.

Watch: Three things to know about SpaceX's stock market debut
North America
Yahoo Finance

FTSE 100 Live: Stocks in Asia plunge as oil spikes on Iran and Israel's strike exchange

The content on this Site is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, a personal recommendation, an offer or solicitation to buy or sell securities, or any other regulated activity. It should not be relied upon as the basis for any investment decision. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. The value of investments can fall as well as rise. You may not recover the amount you invest, and in some cases you may be required to pay more. Proactive financial news and online broadcast teams provide fast, accessible, informative and actionable business and finance news content to a global investment audience. All our content is produced independently by our experienced and qualified teams of news journalists. Proactive news team spans the world’s key finance and investing hubs with bureaus and studios in London, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Sydney and Perth. We are experts in medium and small-cap markets, we also keep our community up to date with blue-chip companies, commodities and broader investment stories. This is content that excites and engages motivated private investors. The team delivers news and unique insights across the market including but not confined to: biotech and pharma, mining and natural resources, battery metals, oil and gas, crypto and emerging digital and EV technologies. Proactive has always been a forward looking and enthusiastic technology adopter. Our human content creators are equipped with many decades of valuable expertise and experience. The team also has access to and use technologies to assist and enhance workflows. Proactive will on occasion use automation and software tools, including generative AI. Nevertheless, all content published by Proactive is edited and authored by humans, in line with best practice in regard to content production and search engine optimisation. Aftyer the sharp selloff in stocks at the end of last week saw the Nasdaq endure largest daily drop in a year, and an Iran-Israel ceasefire potentially in ruins, many investors will be asking if the stock market sell-off will continue this week, says Kathleen Brooks at XTB. The Nasdaq lost nearly 5% and the S&P 500 plunged 2.6% on Friday, with the US benchmark losing 2% over the week, bringing an abrupt end to its nine-week winning streak. "The selloff came after US markets made record highs earlier in the week, and was triggered by jitters about AI stock valuations, and a rapid repricing of interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, after May’s blowout jobs report," says Brooks, after new payroll numbers rose by 172,000, far exceeding the 85,000 expected.

FTSE 100 Live: Stocks in Asia plunge as oil spikes on Iran and Israel's strike exchange
Europe
The Guardian

US inflation jumped to 4.2% in May, the third consecutive increase since start of Iran war

People pump gas at a gas station in Washington DC on 30 May 2026. Photograph: Bonnie Cash/UPI/ShutterstockView image in fullscreenPeople pump gas at a gas station in Washington DC on 30 May 2026. Photograph: Bonnie Cash/UPI/ShutterstockInflationUS inflation jumped to 4.2% in May, the third consecutive increase since start of Iran warBefore the conflict began, inflation was at 2.4%, but the closure of the strait of Hormuz has affected energy prices US inflation jumped to an annual rate of 4.2% in May, the third consecutive monthly increase since the start of the Iran war and a three-year high, as Americans continue to face steep oil prices. Prices have increased sharply over the past several months, rising at an annual rate of 3.3% in March before going up to 3.8% in April. In February, before the conflict began, inflation was at 2.4%. Energy prices were once again responsible for the increase in the consumer price index, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, accounting for 60% of the overall monthly increases. The national average price for a gallon of gas is $4.15, according to AAA, which is slightly lower than where the price was a month ago but still $1 per gallon more than a year ago. Airline fares also increased 26.7% annually, a squeeze travelers may have already noticed ahead of the busy summer season. Other essential everyday expenses, such as food, energy services and clothing, also increased. Stripping out volatile energy and food prices, core CPI increased 2.9%. The White House said the newest inflation figures reinforce that “despite temporary disruptions as a result of Iran’s efforts to subvert the free flow of energy, President Trump’s broader economic agenda continues to deliver meaningful results for the American people”. “Prices of prescription drugs, dairy products, cars, as well as both health and auto insurance continue to decline thanks to the Trump administration’s policymaking,” Kush Desai, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement. “The Administration will continue pushing our affordability agenda to enable Americans to keep more of their hard-earned money.” Since the beginning of the US-Israel war with Iran, inflation has hit its highest levels since 2023, though they still remain well below the peaks recorded in 2022, when inflation hit 9%. Higher prices have dampened Americans’ expectations of their financial outlook. According to a survey released on Monday from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, households have become more pessimistic about inflation, the labor market, finding a job and the potential for layoffs. Consumer sentiment has also plummeted to a historic low, according to data from the University of Michigan, after falling for three consecutive months. The new inflation data puts pressure on officials with the US Federal Reserve, who are meeting for the first time next week under the central bank’s new chair, Kevin Warsh. The Fed has voted to maintain interest rates since the end of last year. The central bank has been aiming for a target annualized inflation rate of 2%. Warsh said he believed the rates, which stand at 3.5% to 3.75%, should be lowered, aligning himself with Donald Trump, who has spent the last year trying to coerce the central bank into lowering rates. Even though prices are rising, the president is unlikely to be deterred from calling for rate cuts. On Tuesday, Trump told reporters that he didn’t think US fuel prices were “very high, relatively speaking.”

US inflation jumped to 4.2% in May, the third consecutive increase since start of Iran war
Europe
The Guardian

‘Open season’ on ABC as FCC moves up public comment process for renewals

The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, on 2 June 2025. Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenThe Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, on 2 June 2025. Photograph: Patrick T Fallon/AFP/Getty ImagesMedia‘Open season’ on ABC as FCC moves up public comment process for renewalsOrder represents one of the most significant actions the Trump administration has taken against a media company Over the next few weeks, anyone in the US can plead their case that Disney’s ABC should not be permitted to renew its broadcast licenses for the eight local television stations they own. After the Federal Communications Commission’s stunning decision in late April to force ABC to apply early to renew its licenses – a move widely seen as retaliation against critics of Donald Trump – the nation’s top media regulator opened up the pleading cycle process to critics and supporters until 29 June. The early renewal order represents one of the most significant actions the Trump administration has taken against a media company, a potential regulatory death-blow to go alongside the myriad legal actions taken against the press and access restrictions placed upon journalists. The FCC’s order came one day after Trump and his wife, Melania, lobbied for ABC to cancel the late-night show starring Jimmy Kimmel, prompting some to claim it was politically motivated. But chair Brendan Carr has said that the decision was based solely on the early findings of an investigation into Disney’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices. ABC is extremely skeptical of the FCC’s stated rationale for the early renewal order, arguing in an 18-page memo in late May that the DEI investigation was simply a pretext for retaliating against a disfavored broadcaster and chilling its speech. Either way, now that the FCC has begun the process of reviewing ABC’s licenses, critics of the network have a golden opportunity to land their blows. Petitioners who want to deny the network’s license renewals are not limited to focusing on the company’s hiring practices – they can challenge any aspect of ABC’s fitness for broadcasting and contest whether the networks truly serve the public interest. ABC will then get a month to respond to the petitions to deny their renewals, and petitioners will get a few days to reply. “Is this open season on ABC? Without a doubt,” said Gigi Sohn, who served as counselor to former FCC chair Tom Wheeler during Barack Obama’s administration. Daniel Suhr, the president of the conservative legal group Center for American Rights, confirmed that his organization will file a petition to deny ABC’s license renewals on multiple grounds, including several issues the group has raised in the past. “It’s a license renewal, and so any issues dealing with the license are fair game, and we’ve had a number of pending complaints and concerns about ABC,” he said. Over the past two years, the group has filed complaints about ABC’s moderation of a 2024 presidential election debate; about late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, and its belief that Kimmel “utilizes his show – and therefore the public airwaves – to advance his own political interests”; and has supported an inquiry into the ABC talkshow The View. While several petitions to deny are expected to come from established organizations like Suhr’s, the public can also write in with comments. “I am concerned this proceeding reflects a broader effort to discourage corporate diversity initiatives and may create pressure on broadcasters based on political disagreements rather than established communications-law standards,” wrote one dissenting individual on 5 June.

‘Open season’ on ABC as FCC moves up public comment process for renewals
North America
Yahoo Finance

Stocks tumble, oil jumps amid tech rout, Iran tensions

STORY: Asian stocks plunged on Monday morning as investors hit the brakes on the red-hot AI rally. South Korea’s tech-heavy KOSPI index took the heaviest beating. It was down around 6% by late-morning after volatile trade had earlier triggered a 20-minute halt. Chip giant Samsung matched the overall decline.  Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei index was down around 4% by the same time. That follows a similar drop for the Nasdaq on Wall Street at the end of last week. One analyst told Reuters that doubts have crept in over tech earnings, partly following weaker-than-expected numbers from US chipmaker Broadcom. Last week’s hotter-than-expected U.S. jobs data have also all but wiped out hopes for further rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year. Then there’s Iran. Tensions in the Middle East have flared again, following Israel’s strikes on Lebanon, and Iran’s retaliatory strikes on Israel. International benchmark Brent Crude was up around 3% on Monday morning, once again heading towards the $100 per barrel mark. That’s despite weekend action by the OPEC+ oil exporters’ group to reassure markets with a further boost to output. Later this week, all eyes turn to the potentially record breaking SpaceX share listing. Elon Musk’s rocket firm is set to start trading on Friday, and is expected to debut with a valuation of around $1.75 trillion. With so much money going to that, and more possible mega-listings such as OpenAI, some brokers have expressed concern about the impact on other assets.

Stocks tumble, oil jumps amid tech rout, Iran tensions
North America
CNBC Finance

GM eyes new battery chemistry to grow AI data center, energy storage business

General Motors is expanding efforts to capitalize on the expected growth of energy storage and data centers by promoting different battery cell chemistries, while also offering more support for its electric vehicle owners to combat higher energy costs. The Detroit automaker detailed plans Tuesday to increase its vehicle-to-grid capabilities — in which a vehicle can provide energy to the electric grid — for its EV customers and develop next-generation sodium-ion batteries that GM's battery leader said "will reshape grid-scale energy storage." Both moves are meant to address concerns about rising energy costs amid an artificial intelligence boom. The stock market has speculated that vast sums of money will be spent on infrastructure to support a big data center buildout. "Sodium-ion-powered energy storage systems have the potential to operate without active cooling and with much less system complexity," Kurt Kelty, GM's vice president of battery and sustainability, said Tuesday in a blog post. "In large energy storage systems, that matters." Not having to cool the battery cells could lead to lower upfront costs as well as operating costs, the automaker said. GM is partnering with Denver-based startup Peak Energy on sodium-ion battery cell development, after the company already demonstrated how the chemistry can "translate into lower costs and greater reliability," Kelty said. The automaker expects the tie-up with Peak Energy will produce sodium-ion cells for customer use after 2028. The leadership team of Peak Energy — which was founded in 2023 — includes former employees of Tesla, Lockheed Martin and battery developer Northvolt, according to its website. A GM spokesman declined to comment on details or cost of the partnership with Peak Energy. Along with developing new sodium-ion battery cells, GM said it is continuing work on reusing its large EV batteries for energy storage systems with companies such as Redwood Materials and producing lower-cost lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, battery cells through a joint venture with LG Energy Solution. LFP batteries are viewed as a quick way for companies to take advantage of existing battery capacity, while GM said it sees the sodium-ion battery cells as a future solution for such systems. "Our next-generation sodium-ion cell development will drive energy density higher, with the potential to outperform more mature chemistries, including LFP, over time. In a market increasingly shaped by cost pressure, energy demand growth, and geopolitical risk, that's a real differentiator," Kelty said.

GM eyes new battery chemistry to grow AI data center, energy storage business
North America
CNBC Finance

United CEO brushes off airline mergers after American rejection: 'There's nothing'

RIO DE JANEIRO — United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said he doesn't expect more airline consolidation in the U.S. and he's not interested in pursuing a merger for his airline after American Airlines rejected the idea of a combination earlier this year. "United's not going to do a deal just to do a deal," Kirby told reporters Sunday on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association's annual meeting. When asked about the wave of consolidation that has brought together Allegiant and Sun Country this year, and Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines in 2024, Kirby said further combination opportunities look unlikely: "There's nothing," he said. "It's a lot harder," he said. "I've been ... one of the primary architects of consolidation in the United States. I've been around a lot of these deals. It's hard, and you shouldn't do deals that don't make economic sense." Kirby has repeatedly dismissed the idea of buying its new partner, JetBlue Airways. But earlier this year Kirby discussed the possibility of combining with American, where Kirby used to work, floating the idea to the Trump administration, CNBC previously reported. Kirby later said in a statement that he had hoped a combined airline would compete with big foreign rivals, though some analysts said the tie-up would face insurmountable regulatory hurdles. A merger "requires support from everyone," Kirby told reporters at the IATA conference. "We would need the unions, we'd need the customers, the shareholders, the regulators and the management team." He said, however, regarding American's management team, "we don't have that, clearly, so we can't get it done without them." Delta Air Lines President Peter Carter similarly told CNBC on Saturday that he doesn't see a merger or acquisition in Delta's future. He said the carrier's longtime strategy has been partnerships and joint ventures, which include those in South Korea, Mexico and Europe. Because the U.S. domestic air travel market is so mature, international travel is the future, Carter said. He added he wants to take on United, the second most-profitable airline in the U.S., in the lucrative trans-Pacific market. Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services.

United CEO brushes off airline mergers after American rejection: 'There's nothing'
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Converting crisis into opportunity: Why paddy straw-based CBG deserves special funding

Every winter, Delhi-NCR faces a severe air quality crisis from vehicular emissions, industrial activity, dust, and biomass burning. Seasonal paddy stubble burning in northern India remains a major contributor, especially during October–November when weather conditions trap pollutants near the ground. Policy measures like the Crop Residue Management (CRM) scheme have reduced burning incidents, but the problem’s scale demands a structural, economically viable solution. Compressed Biogas (CBG) production from paddy straw addresses both environmental and agricultural challenges effectively. These emissions worsen air quality, triggering respiratory illnesses, eye and skin problems, and aggravating heart and lung diseases. Much of this is lost in flames, harming soil temperature, pH balance, moisture, phosphorus availability, and organic matter. The result is long-term decline in agricultural productivity. India produces an estimated 228–230 million tonnes of surplus agricultural biomass annually (after traditional uses like fodder), with heavy concentrations in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan—the States worst affected by stubble burning. This biomass represents a strategic opportunity: converting paddy straw from an environmental liability into a valuable energy resource via CBG production, complemented by biomass co-firing in thermal power plants. CBG plants offer a direct alternative to open-field burning, cutting pollutant emissions at the source. Climate and sustainability benefits: As a clean, renewable fuel, CBG reduces greenhouse gas emissions and generates nutrient-rich organic manure (FOM/LFOM), aiding soil restoration and sustainable farming. Energy security: Domestically produced CBG decreases reliance on imported natural gas. The government’s CBG Blending Obligation (CBO)—starting at 1 per cent in FY 2025–26 and rising to 5 per cent by FY 2028–29—supports national targets while providing reliable, dispatchable energy. Rural economic growth: CBG projects create farmer income streams, generate rural jobs, and build organized biomass supply chains. These issues necessitate targeted policy and financial support, building on frameworks like the Revised Operational Guidelines 2024 of the CRM scheme. Enhanced capital subsidies and Viability Gap Funding (VGF): Higher subsidies can offset elevated upfront costs, especially for pre-treatment systems. VGF bridges the gap between project costs and returns, boosting investor confidence.

Converting crisis into opportunity: Why paddy straw-based CBG deserves special funding