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Europe
BBC Business

Musk's SpaceX share sale: Four things you need to know

Next week shares go on sale in Musk's Texas-based SpaceX, a company that is planning to colonise Mars and put artificial intelligence (AI) data centres in space. It is set to be the largest ever public sale of shares and will make SpaceX one of the US's top ten largest listed firms. But for those who invest, what exactly will they be buying and what are the risks? On 12 June millions of new shares in the company will go on sale and then will start trading publicly on the stock market in what is known as an Initial Public Offering, or IPO. The IPO aims to raise a vast amount of money - at least $75bn - and gives investors the chance to buy into a business whose activities range from space exploration and satellite communication to the social media site X and the controversial AI platform Grok. SpaceX is separate from Musk's most well-known company, the electric car maker Tesla, although it is thought the two may end up merging next year. Musk plans to use the extra money he is raising to expand SpaceX's current activities but also to fund new future ventures: mining asteroids, colonising Mars and putting AI data centres in space. The sci-fi style sales prospectus says humans must avoid "the same fate as dinosaurs" and plan for an "age of abundance" based in space because the "light of consciousness" will not be tied to a single planet. There is plenty of scepticism about the feasibility of some of these ambitions. But Musk's backers say he has beaten the doubters before. SpaceX shares will be traded on the New York technology-focused Nasdaq market, and some of the big global investment institutions are likely to buy shares. But individuals, including in the UK, will also get a chance to buy via certain investment platforms and brokers. There are more than 550 million shares available, which SpaceX has announced it hopes to sell at $135 (£100) each. Investors must decide if they think the shares are worth that much. And once they start trading their value could quickly rise or fall depending on whether the wider market thinks that initial price was too low or too high. Even if you do not invest in SpaceX shares directly you may find you have an indirect financial interest if your pension or savings fund manager buys shares as part of their investment strategy, or if you have an index-tracking fund that automatically buys into the biggest firms.

Musk's SpaceX share sale: Four things you need to know
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

El Nino has set in, Positive IOD likely by July, says Japanese weather body

Drought-bearing El Nino has set in, while a positive IOD will emerge by July (boreal summer), the Japanese weather agency JAMSTEC has said. “As predicted earlier, an El Nino occurred,” JAMSTEC said Thursday, thus becoming the first agency to declare the arrival of the climatic pattern. JAMSTEC’s predictive model, SINTEX-F, forecasts a further development of El Nino towards a strong El Nino in boreal summer, between June and August. A few members of the ensemble are forecasting a “super” El Nino late in 2026. SINTEX-F (Scale Interaction Experiment-Frontier) is a coupled ocean-atmosphere climate prediction system developed by JAMSTEC in collaboration with European partners. The tropical Indian Ocean is currently in a neutral state, SINTEX-F said. The model predicts a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) event in the boreal midsummer (July). ​A positive IOD can bring more moisture to India, often helping monsoon rains even in an El Nino year. IOD is a climate phenomenon caused by variations in sea temperatures in the Indian Ocean. Its positive, negative and neutral phases can influence the Indian monsoon. The development comes on the heels of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) lowering its forecast for the South-West Monsoon to receive 90 per cent of the long-period average rainfall. The monsoon has arrived 3 days late this year on the Kerala coast on June 4. The model predicts hotter-than-normal conditions for much of the globe during the July–September average. Relatively high signal-to-noise ratios are observed in the western United States, Mexico, Central America, most of South America (excluding Argentina and southern Chile), New Zealand, southern and western Australia, most of Africa, most of the Middle East, some parts of Europe, Turkey, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, many islands in the tropical Pacific, most of Southeast Asia, India, Mongolia, some of China, and Hawaii, the report added. Meteorologists use the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) to help them determine how much of the data they get from the atmosphere is signal (good information) and how much is noise (random background interference). If the SNR is high, it means the real weather trend is obvious The report said southwestern Polynesia will be cooler-than-normal. The model shows above-normal temperatures for much of the globe during the boreal autumn (October). Drier-than-normal conditions are forecast across Central America, the Caribbean, western Brazil, eastern Australia, parts of East Africa, parts of western equatorial Africa, Yemen, Nepal, North India, Malaysia, Indonesia and some islands in the southern tropical Pacific during July–September.

El Nino has set in, Positive IOD likely by July, says Japanese weather body
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Policy uniformity, public trust vital for India’s ethanol blending success

Higher ethanol blends in petrol aim to cut oil imports as India expands its biofuel roadmap. To ensure the Ethanol Blending Programme succeeds, the government must standardise state-level taxes and educate consumers to resolve lingering doubts about the fuel. To accelerate its Ethanol Blending Programme (EBP) by granting complete excise duty exemptions on higher ethanol-blended petrol variants -- specifically targeting E22, E25, E27, and E30 blends – the Centre is establishing a financial and technical framework designed to curb India’s reliance on expensive crude oil imports. However, this may not be enough. Bharati Balaji, Deputy Director General of the All India Distillers’ Association (AIDA), told businessline that excise exemptions provide a vital commercial route for surplus ethanol capacity, which currently exceeds E-20 programme requirements. AIDA is urging state governments to align tax structures to ensure benefits reach consumers, while actively collaborating with the Ministries of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Road Transport, and Food to address concerns regarding reduced fuel efficiency, she said. “Consumer awareness is a vital pillar for the long-term success of India’s ethanol blending program. Historically, introducing new products to the Indian market triggers immediate resistance, as seen when chemical manufacturers protested molasses procurement during the program’s initial rollout. These challenges are simply standard, temporary hurdles,” she said. Balaji emphasised that consumer awareness is vital, noting that while ethanol’s lower energy content might slightly reduce fuel mileage, the issue must be viewed through a broader lens. She urged a focus on overall vehicle technology, efficiency, carbon emissions, running costs, energy security, and environmental benefits. “The minor mileage drop we are talking about applies to vehicles built before 2023,” she said, adding that “It is important to note that modern vehicles are designed and calibrated for E20. In fact, they are engineered to optimize performance, emissions, and fuel efficiency under higher ethanol blends.” On feedstock, Balaji explained that AIDA members—comprising top grain, molasses, and integrated distilleries—control about 80 per cent of India’s ethanol production. She highlighted that fuel ethanol is a substantial, fast-growing part of the distillery ecosystem, driven by market demand and government policy. Explaining the capacity metrics, Balaji noted that India’s current installed ethanol capacity stands close to 2,000 crore litres. With the Ethanol Blending Programme (EBP) requiring 1,100 crore litres and alternative sectors—including potable alcohol, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals—consuming 334 crore litres, total demand reaches 1,434 crore litres. This leaves the industry sitting on a notable surplus capacity of approximately 566 crore litres. 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.

Policy uniformity, public trust vital for India’s ethanol blending success
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

IT rout: Infosys, HCL Tech, TCS shares fall as Nifty IT declines on global tech selloff

The selloff in information technology stocks deepened on Thursday, with the Nifty IT index emerging as the worst-performing sectoral index as concerns over rising inflation, elevated interest rates and rich valuations in artificial intelligence-linked companies weighed on sentiment. The weakness in domestic technology stocks mirrored a sharp overnight decline in global technology shares. US markets ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite falling 1.9 per cent, 1.6 per cent and 2.0 per cent, respectively, amid continued selling in technology stocks, hotter-than-expected US inflation data for May 2026 and escalating US-Iran tensions. Wall Street’s recent weakness has been driven by a selloff in AI stocks amid concerns over stretched valuations. Nvidia, Broadcom and Super Micro Computer declined sharply, while Micron remained volatile. Investors are also reportedly reallocating funds ahead of upcoming high-profile US listings, including a potential SpaceX IPO. The Nifty IT index fell as much as 2.6 per cent to 27,519.15 in early trade before settling with 1.6 per cent loss at 27,821, from its previous close of 28,279.90. The index has fallen 11.5 per cent since June 2, 2026, (recording a closing value of 31116.55). Infosys, LTM, OFSS and HCLTech were among the biggest losers, declining 2-3 per cent at the time of writing. Heavyweights TCS and Wipro also traded lower. All counters, including Persistent Systems, Tech Mahindra and Coforge ended in red. During the session, TCS, Wipro, HCL Tech and LTM hit a fresh 52-week low. According to Sumit Pokharna, SVP - Fundamental Research at Kotak Securities, apart from the global risk-off sentiment, concerns around rapid advances in artificial intelligence are adding to pressure on the sector. “Nifty IT Index is down around 2 per cent today, and in the last six months it has fallen around 27 per cent,” Pokharna said. He noted that Anthropic’s recently launched Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models have intensified concerns around revenue deflation for Indian IT services companies, particularly those with significant exposure to application development and maintenance (ADM) services. According to Pokharna, the new AI models deliver significantly stronger software engineering capabilities, with AI-generated code quality approaching human levels and potentially surpassing it within the next year. “The key concern is that productivity improvements in software engineering are occurring much faster than in non-software domains. This increases the risk of lower effort requirements, reduced billing volumes, and pricing pressure for traditional application development and maintenance contracts,” he said.

IT rout: Infosys, HCL Tech, TCS shares fall as Nifty IT declines on global tech selloff
Europe
BBC Business

British Heart Foundation plans to close 150 charity shops

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) says it is planning to close around 150 charity shops, citing an "exceptionally challenging trading environment". The charity, which carried out a review of its retail arm, said rising operating costs and changing customer habits meant some stores were "no longer financially sustainable". Its overall financial position "remains healthy", it said, adding it is continuing to see strong fundraising and legacy income. The BHF currently has 640 shops and stores across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The proposed closures, within the next two years, make up just under a quarter of the total. The charity plans to close around 90 stores by the end of March 2027, and the remaining affected stores by March 2028. It said it would share the locations of the stores earmarked for closure on its website once affected colleagues had been informed. Chief Executive Charmaine Griffiths acknowledged this would be a difficult time for colleagues and volunteers, thanking them for their contributions. "Like most retailers, we are facing an exceptionally challenging trading environment," she said. "Cardiovascular disease remains one of the UK's biggest killers and our priority is funding research to save lives. "We must take the difficult step to close some of our shops to sustain retail's important contribution to funding BHF's groundbreaking research." As well as its network of shops and donation points, the BHF has online retail channels including on its website and eBay. It said it will continue to evolve its retail operations "to reflect changing customer shopping behaviours and donor habits".

British Heart Foundation plans to close 150 charity shops
North America
Yahoo Finance

FTSE 100 Live: Stocks to open in red as oil climbs, B&M and Boohoo results out

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. B&M European Value Retail has reported a 38% fall in annual profits, coming from weak trading in the UK being exacerbated by what it admits are "execution issues". However, chief executive Tjeerd Jegen said the turnaround programme is beginning to show signs of progress. The FTSE 250-listed discount retailer posted adjusted profit before tax of £284 million for the 2026 financial year, down from £455 million a year earlier, while adjusted EBITDA fell 26% to £459 million.

FTSE 100 Live: Stocks to open in red as oil climbs, B&M and Boohoo results out
Europe
BBC Business

The ancient trick making food waste useful and tasty

Vayu Hill-Maini's lab has created a new cheese, or at least something that tastes like cheese, but is actually made from food waste. The bioengineer, who runs a lab at Stanford University in California, is experimenting with fermentation using fungi. "One of the most amazing things that we found recently is that we could take waste and add a few other ingredients in a fungal fermentation and create this delicious cheese that is like a Pecorino or Parmigiano," he says. Fermentation is a biological process whereby organisms convert carbohydrates like starch or sugar into substances like alcohol, without using oxygen. Perhaps the best-known examples of fermentation are in baking and brewing, where yeast breaks down sugar into ethanol and carbon dioxide. But it's not just wheat flour, or barley that can fuel fermentation, all sorts of substances are suitable - in biology those fermentation hosts are known as substrates. With the latest biotech tools, companies are taking by-products of the food industry, that are currently discarded or have little value, and using fermentation to turn them into something useful. UK-based Fermtech is transforming cocoa shells, which are normally thrown away, into a cocoa powder substitute, using fermentation. "If you were to sniff a bag of cocoa shells, you would be really struck by the intense chocolatey nature of it," says Andy Clayton, Fermtech's CEO. He says it's a shame that by-products of the food industry are composted or burnt, rather than using microorganisms to break down the hard bits of the plant and make it bioavailable for humans, while retaining the flavours. Utilising a broader palette of substrates can save money, help the environment, and expand flavour. Take peas. Protein makes up about a quarter of a pea, and pea protein has become an increasingly popular source of plant-based protein.

The ancient trick making food waste useful and tasty
Europe
The Guardian

Democrats oppose Trump officials’ effort to include crypto in 401(k) plans

Democrat Bobby Scott, the ranking member of the House education and workforce committee. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenDemocrat Bobby Scott, the ranking member of the House education and workforce committee. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty ImagesUS newsDemocrats oppose Trump officials’ effort to include crypto in 401(k) plansChange backed by labor department would expose workers to greater financial risk, letter shared with Guardian says Congressional Democrats are strongly opposing a US Department of Labor proposal that would allow 401(k) investments to include cryptocurrency, private credit and private equity assets, arguing the change will expose workers to riskier and more complex investments. In a letter shared exclusively with the Guardian, Senator Bernie Sanders, Senator Elizabeth Warren and House education and workforce committee ranking member Bobby Scott of Virginia, argued the rule would expose an estimated $14.2tn of 401(k) retirement savings to volatile assets and would probably not withstand a challenge in court. “This would strip long-held investor protections from retirement savers and encourage the use of more risky, complex, and expensive investments,” said the letter. “The proposed rule is harmful to American workers.” These high-risk assets can experience extreme volatility, the Democrats said, citing Trump’s memecoin, which soared to over $75 per token during Trump’s inauguration in January 2025 but has since dropped to $2 per token. The letter noted seniors in the US were already struggling financially, with more than 22.8% of seniors in the US living in poverty, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), compared with just 5.1% in Denmark, 5.8% in France, 12.6% in Germany and 14.8 % in Canada. The proposal could also expose workers to higher fees and erode their long-term returns. The Financial Industry Regulation Authority (Finra) cautions that crypto investments “have experienced higher levels of volatility relative to more traditional investment assets” and “the risk of losing all of your investment is significant”. The FBI reported cryptocurrency fraud complaints comprise some of the highest losses for Americans among cyber-enabled fraud, with over $11bn in losses reported in 2025. Consumer advocates argue the proposed rule only puts retirement savings accounts at higher risk while benefiting the crypto industry. “Opening 401ks to these products risks turning workers’ retirement savings into a Ponzi-like scheme that throws a lifeline to an industry scrambling for fresh cash,” Oscar Valdés Viera, a senior policy analyst at consumer advocacy group Americans for Financial Reform, said in a statement. Democrats flagged Trump’s ties to the crypto industry and the conflict of interest it could present to the proposal. Trump’s adult sons have been managing the family’s crypto business, which includes a new Trump-based digital currency, as he carries out his second term in the White House. The ventures in crypto have potentially raised as much as $5bn for the family after the launch of its digital currency in September, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Democrats oppose Trump officials’ effort to include crypto in 401(k) plans
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

KLF Nirmal signs cricketer Shreyanka Patil as brand ambassador for Karnataka

Shreyanka, who is representing India at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, was chosen for her inspiring journey from grassroots cricket to the international stage. KLF Nirmal, a coconut hair oil brand, has signed woman cricketer Shreyanka Patil as its brand ambassador for Karnataka. As part of this association, KLF Nirmal has launched a special initiative to support aspiring young women cricketers from rural Karnataka. She is currently representing India in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, being held in England and Wales. A media statement said that her journey from grassroots cricket to the international stage has made her a role model for countless young girls across the state. Quoting Ashik Jose, Marketing Manager at KLF Nirmal Industries Pvt Ltd, the statement said Shreyanka is a natural fit for the KLF Nirmal brand. “Her strong roots, determination, authenticity, and inspiring personality closely reflect the values that our brand stands for. She represents the aspirations of today’s young generation while staying connected to her origins. Through this partnership, we hope not only to strengthen our connection with consumers across Karnataka but also to inspire young girls to pursue their dreams with confidence,” Jose said. Shreyanka Patil said, “I am delighted to partner with KLF Nirmal, a brand that has earned the trust of families for generations. It is truly an honour to be associated with such a legacy brand and to represent KLF Nirmal in its upcoming campaign across Karnataka. I am excited to be part of this journey and look forward to connecting with consumers while contributing to the brand’s continued growth and success.” The campaign featuring Shreyanka Patil will be rolled out across television, digital, retail, and on-ground activations across Karnataka in the coming months, the statement 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.

KLF Nirmal signs cricketer Shreyanka Patil as brand ambassador for Karnataka