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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
Europe
BBC Business

Will AI help you do your job or replace you?

ByFaisal Islam, Economics editor, Phil Leake, Miguel Roca-Terry, Data journalists and Jess Carr, Data designerArtificial Intelligence (AI) companies are making vast claims about the ability of their tools to replace human labour. Some jobs will be automated, others will be "augmented". The bosses of the world's biggest companies are diverting vast sums into these tools, partly with the knowledge that they could save money on headcount. "Flat is the new up", we are told, in terms of the size of a company's workforce as investors ask whether jobs should be done by new recruits - or, instead, armies of "AI Agents", virtual workers tasked with doing specific roles, some of them relatively skilled. If even half true there will be an impact on us all, across sectors and individual careers, and perhaps it will happen sooner than we think. Nobel prize-winning economists recently warned the world “must act now”, external to ensure that AI leads to rising living standards and not large-scale job displacement, and last month London businesses warned they were struggling to find the skills they need as AI disrupts the jobs market. This chart is the industry benchmark for how various models can perform the tasks previously done by humans, in this case using and developing computer software. This measure showed that three years ago, large language models (LLMs) were only able to reliably complete tasks humans took seconds or minutes to do. Now they are increasingly able to complete fairly complex tasks taking an hour or so. Now, some of the LLMs can find problems in a cryptocurrency contract and even develop and streamline the model itself, which would take a human several hours. The latest generation of models could start to entirely develop themselves in the next year or so. This is just software coding, but the same type of pattern is being seen, at an earlier stage, with financial analysis, early stage legal work, even some entry level creative industry jobs. What does that mean for jobs? The most thorough analyses out there come from the United States, using four years of data on employment outcomes by age among a range of occupations most exposed to AI (including software developers and customer contact reps) - and least exposed to AI (health workers, childcare workers, hairdressers). Stanford University's analysis of wage and jobs data finds a hit to employment for 22 to 25-year-olds of 2.7% since ChatGPT became widespread, rising to 12.8% in the most AI-exposed sectors such as finance, software and creative industries. Not all economists agree, arguing that other factors such as interest rate rises can explain this.

Will AI help you do your job or replace you?
Europe
The Guardian

Judge orders pause on Paramount-Warner merger after challenge from 12 states

Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick, one of Paramount’s biggest box office hits. Photograph: Album/AlamyView image in fullscreenTom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick, one of Paramount’s biggest box office hits. Photograph: Album/AlamyParamount PicturesJudge orders pause on Paramount-Warner merger after challenge from 12 states$81bn merger halted for at least two weeks after US states sued to block deal, saying it would ‘extinguish competition’ A federal judge on Monday ordered Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery to halt their $81bn merger for at least two weeks, allowing states that are challenging the deal more time to see their case through in court. Twelve states, led by California, sued to block Paramount’s pending buyout of Warner last week – alleging that such a combination would “extinguish competition” in Hollywood and lead to fewer choices for consumers, particularly moviegoers and cable customers across the US. The states’ top prosecutors called on Warner and Paramount to not close the transaction until after a court had time to “fully evaluate” their claims. And when the companies refused, they filed for a temporary restraining order – which is what district judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín granted on Monday. That opens the door to a potential preliminary injunction that the states are also seeking to effectively block the deal. “This is a critical first win in our case to ensure this megamerger never sees the light of day,” Rob Bonta, the California attorney general, said in a statement following Monday’s order. “History tells the tale of what happens when a few people have great power over markets that are central to Americans’ lives: fewer opportunities for more people, worse products and services for all people.” A Warner-Paramount tie-up would bring together two of the five last legacy studios in Hollywood – as well as host of TV networks, titles filling streaming libraries and news operations. That would include Warner’s HBO Max, fan favorites such as Harry Potter and even CNN coming under the same roof of Paramount-owned CBS, movies including Top Gun and the Paramount+ streaming service. Paramount did not immediately comment on Monday’s order. But the company, which was bought out by Skydance just last year, has vowed to “vigorously defend” its Warner acquisition. Paramount previously called the states’ complaint “wrong on both the facts and the law”, maintaining that a merger would instead strengthen competition against bigger entertainment rivals. And it touted regulatory greenlights the deal has received elsewhere, including from the Trump administration last month. The temporary restraining order granted on Monday halts the deal from progressing for at least 14 days, although the pause could be extended for up to 28 days. The court has set 3 August as a date for a hearing on the states’ preliminary injunction motion, although that schedule could also be pushed back.

Judge orders pause on Paramount-Warner merger after challenge from 12 states
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
BBC Business

'I can't afford to turn the oven on': 7.4m households struggling to buy essentials

Four years into the cost of living crisis, almost two-thirds of low-income families say they struggle to buy essentials such as clothes, heating and food, according to anti-poverty charity the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF). A record 62% of low-income families were unable to afford an essential item in the past six months, the charity found - the equivalent of 7.4m households, up from 7.1 million a year ago. Almost half of those surveyed had skipped a meal or cut portion sizes to save money. Newly appointed Prime Minister Andy Burnham has promised to set out how he will "give people some breathing space, help with the cost of living," including cutting VAT on electricity bills from October. Elaine Yates, 77, says money worries mean she "can't remember" the last time she used her oven to cook a hot meal. "I don't look after myself. I can't remember the last time I put the oven on. I have got an air fryer that I probably used about three weeks ago. "I had two slices of toast yesterday and two Weetabix and fruit is all I've had to eat today." The pensioner lives by herself in rural Northamptonshire after being widowed five years ago. Following 20 years as a full-time carer for her husband, her finances are "extremely tight", so she has felt particularly vulnerable to price rises since he passed away. "It's really hard times, not just for me, but for thousands of others. My car costs me an arm and a leg. The fuel prices are rocketing up again, and I live in a village, so I need a car because I've got arthritis and I can't walk very far. I spend about £50 a week on petrol, which is more than my food bill." Elaine often gives lifts to others in her village who don't have transport, only to find herself unable to shop alongside them. "I've got one friend who buys clothes and I sit outside the shop because I can't afford to go in," she says. "I can't remember the last time I treated myself." In the winter, Elaine rarely turns the heating on, and when she does she keeps the thermostat at a low 13C.

'I can't afford to turn the oven on': 7.4m households struggling to buy essentials
Europe
BBC Business

Boost youth jobs by cutting employers' national insurance, MPs urge

Image source, Getty ImagesByMitchell LabiakBusiness reporterPublished4 hours agoEmployer national insurance (NI) contributions for all under-25s should be cut to boost job opportunities for young people, a group of MPs has urged. The Work and Pensions Committee said it has heard "overwhelming evidence" that rising employment costs, including from employer NI, were reducing training and job vacancies, particularly for young people. Over one million 16 to 24-year-olds are not in education, employment, or training (known as Neet). The committee said an employer NI cut for all under-25s would tackle this "travesty". The government said it was determined to create opportunities for young people, reform education and support people to stay and progress in work. The previous government, which introduced NI increases for businesses last year, said at the time they were making the right choice to fund public services. In its 2024 election manifesto, Labour said it would not raise taxes on "working people", specifically income tax, NI, or VAT. Critics have argued that the employer NI raise ultimately affects workers by limiting job opportunities. Some employers have argued it has become more difficult to hire young people due to higher minimum wages and increased taxes, such as employer National Insurance contributions, although the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found there is no clear evidence, external that higher minimum wages have been a "major driver" of young people becoming Neets. In April last year, the rate that employers pay in NI contributions rose from 13.8% to 15% and the threshold at which they start paying the tax on each employee's salary fell from £9,100 per year to £5,000. However, the employment allowance, which is amount employers can claim back from their NI bill, rose from £5,000 to £10,500. The committee said employer NI had hit the retail and hospitality sector, which it said tends to employ young people, particularly hard. It added that there was a "gap" between the government's employment strategy for under-21s and their strategy for under-25s.

Boost youth jobs by cutting employers' national insurance, MPs urge
North America
CNBC Finance

Novo Nordisk sues Eli Lilly, alleging misleading GLP-1 advertising

Novo Nordisk on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against Eli Lilly, alleging that its advertising campaigns for its blockbuster obesity and diabetes drugs are designed to mislead consumers about their superior efficacy relative to the Danish drugmaker's rival injections. Novo is specifically taking issue with nationwide ads that cite what it called "outdated" clinical trials to compare the highest doses of Lilly's medicines to lower doses of Novo's drugs. For example, those campaigns don't include new evidence about Novo's recently approved high-dose version of its obesity injection, Wegovy, which entered the market in March and brings weight loss that's more comparable to Lilly's products. That "leaves them with the inevitable conclusion that Lilly's medicines are superior to Novo's, and that's not accurate," said John Kuckelman, Novo's group general counsel, in an interview on Monday. He said the suit comes after Lilly refused to pull down or correct certain ads despite a formal cease-and-desist request from Novo back in April. In the suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, Novo asked the court to permanently stop Lilly from running the ads and require the drugmaker to issue corrective advertising. Novo is also seeking financial damages, though it's unclear how much. The company said it has also warned Lilly that if the ads are not removed voluntarily, it plans to seek a preliminary injunction in the coming days to block them immediately while the case proceeds. The suit comes as Novo wages an aggressive battle against Lilly to regain market share in the GLP-1 space, positioning its new obesity pill, strategic price cuts and the new high-dose Wegovy to compete with its rival's top-selling obesity injection Zepbound and diabetes counterpart Mounjaro. In recent years, Lilly's medications have become the preferred treatments in the space among many providers and patients due to their high efficacy. But high-dose Wegovy, which showed an average weight loss of around 19%, is a direct answer to that. Novo said it is specifically bringing federal and state unfair competition and false advertising claims, including under the Lanham Act, which pharmaceutical companies have relied on in the past to hold competitors accountable for deceptive advertising. The suit alleges that Lilly's campaigns across television and social media are harmful because consumers often rely on advertising to form their understanding of GLP-1s, unlike healthcare professionals, who have access to the full scientific evidence available. "Lilly's advertising campaign deprives consumers of the truthful, current, and complete information they need to make informed decisions about their available treatment options," the suit said. The lawsuit cites a TV commercial presenting Zepbound and Wegovy in a direct side-by-side comparison, stating visually and verbally that patients on Lilly's drug lose 50 pounds on average compared to 33 pounds on the 2.4-milligram dose of Novo's treatment. That's based on a previous head-to-head clinical trial comparing the highest doses of Zepbound to the 1.7- and 2.4-milligram doses of Wegovy. But Novo said in the suit that a more recent study shows that the high-dose 7.2-milligram dose of Wegovy helped patients lose 47 pounds on average, which is "clinically consistent" with Zepbound's weight loss in Lilly's most recent rigorous trial on the drug. Novo said Lilly acknowledges the existence of that high-dose Wegovy in a "small footnote," but called it "ambiguous, confusing, virtually illegible, and wholly inadequate," as it does not communicate that it is significantly more effective than the lower doses of the drug.

Novo Nordisk sues Eli Lilly, alleging misleading GLP-1 advertising