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Europe
BBC Business

Brewdog founder faces data complaints over efforts to buy back firm

Brewdog co-founder James Watt is facing complaints to the UK data watchdog after he reportedly contacted former shareholders as part of efforts to take back control of the craft brewer. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said it was "assessing" information following complaints related to Watt. Earlier this year, US drinks firm Tilray took over Brewdog in a deal worth about £33m after the company collapsed with debts of more than £500m, leading to hundreds of job losses. The administration process saw Brewdog shut 36 bars while the takeover deal rendered the shares of about 200,000 crowdfunding investors worthless. Watt stepped down as chief executive of the brand in 2024 to become its "captain and co-founder". On Wednesday, Watt made a bid to buy back the Scottish craft beer firm just months after it was acquired. He tabled an offer to buy Brewdog through his new beer firm, Second Best, claiming that 43,000 so-called equity punk investors had joined forces for the bid. The Guardian has reported, external that a number of shareholders contacted by Watt said they did not understand how he had their contact details, raising concerns about a potential breach of the general data protection regulation (GDPR). "We are aware of an incident involving Brewdog and we are assessing the information provided," an ICO spokeswoman said. At its peak, the company had four breweries, about 100 pubs worldwide and was said to be worth more than $1bn. Image source, Getty ImagesEarlier this week, bosses at Tilray stressed that the brand was not for sale and planned to reject Watt's takeover efforts. A spokesman added: "Tilray Brands did not acquire Equity for Punk shareholder data as part of its acquisition of the BrewDog brand and assets; that records system remains under the control of BrewDog plc (in administration).

Brewdog founder faces data complaints over efforts to buy back firm
Asia
The Economic Times

HDFC Bank, RIL, and Eternal among top 10 stock holdings of HDFC Mutual Fund in June

HDFC Mutual Fund, the third largest fund house based on assets managed, had an AUM of Rs 9.63 lakh crore as of June 2026. Here are the top 10 stock holdings, according to a report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services. The fund house had the highest holding in ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank of around 5.9%, 5.4% and 3.4% respectively. Around 22.12 lakh shares of ICICI Bank, 13.54 lakh shares of HDFC Bank and 20.65 lakh shares of Axis Bank were sold out from the portfolio. The weight of ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank increased by 0.3% and 0.2% respectively, whereas that of Axis Bank remained unchanged. The fund house had an allocation of 2.9% in Reliance Industries leading to a decline in weight by 0.1% compared to previous month. The fund house had an allocation of 2.7% in SBI. Around 5.18 lakh shares of SBI were sold out from the portfolio leading to an increase in weight by 0.1% compared to the previous month. The fund house had an allocation of 2.6%, 2.3% and 2% in Bharti Airtel, Kotak Mahindra Bank and L&T respectively leading to decline in weight by 0.1% each compared to the previous month. The fund house had an allocation of 1.8% and 1.7% in Eternal and Maruti Suzuki respectively in June. Around 1.99 crore shares of Eternal were added to the portfolio leading to increase in weight by 0.1% whereas 1 lakh shares of Maruti Suzuki were sold out from the portfolio leading to no change in weight.

HDFC Bank, RIL, and Eternal among top 10 stock holdings of HDFC Mutual Fund in June
Asia
The Economic Times

Lenskart and Meesho among 5 midcap stocks bought by mutual funds in June

Midcaps led the majority of inflows for Chemicals, Consumer Discretionary, IT, Insurance and logistics. Here are the top five midcap stocks that were bought by mutual funds in June, according to a report by Dolat Capital. JSW Infrastructure was bought by mutual funds in June. The total net buy value was Rs 3,603 crore. Meesho was bought by mutual funds in June. The total net buy value was Rs 2,151 crore. NHPC, a power sector stock, was bought by mutual funds in June. The total net buy value was Rs 1,749 crore. Lenskart, a consumer discretionary sector stock, was bought by mutual funds in June. The total net buy value was Rs 1,555 crore. Ajanta Pharma, a healthcare sector stock, was bought by mutual funds in June. The total net buy value was Rs 1,039 crore.

Lenskart and Meesho among 5 midcap stocks bought by mutual funds in June
Europe
BBC Business

China's Moonshot AI claims Kimi K3 can rival OpenAI and Anthropic

Chinese AI start-up Moonshot has unveiled a massive new artificial intelligence model it says can rival top American firms. The company launched Kimi K3, containing 2.8 trillion parameters, which serves as a measure of an AI's scale and processing power. Kimi K3's full capabilities – coding, knowledge work, and reasoning – will be known when it is released as an open-source model on 27 July. The sudden breakthrough suggests that China's tech prowess is rapidly narrowing the capabilities gap, upending long-held assumptions in the West that Chinese developers trail their American peers. Its arrival later this month will make it the world's first open-source model in the three-trillion-parameter class that can be freely downloaded, run and customised by outside developers. The release comes at a highly sensitive moment for the global technology sector, just weeks after the US government abruptly forced American developer Anthropic to temporarily withdraw its flagship Fable and Mythos models due to severe cybersecurity concerns. While Washington has since lifted those restrictions, the initial move highlights how the US government now views advanced AI software as critical national infrastructure, labelling frontier models as vital national security assets subject to strict export controls. However, the rapid arrival of Kimi K3 suggests Chinese firms are successfully bypassing these regulatory barriers and advancing independently despite US restrictions on hardware sales. Heavily backed by domestic tech giants Alibaba and Tencent, Moonshot has quickly risen to the forefront of China's generative AI ecosystem. In a statement the company said that K3 stands as Moonshot AI's "most capable flagship model to date". Unlike closed, proprietary American systems from OpenAI or Anthropic, Kimi K3's open nature allows global users to modify the system for advanced reasoning and complex software development. Moonshot AI noted that the system is uniquely built to operate with "minimal human supervision" to sustain tasks such as engineering and coding.

China's Moonshot AI claims Kimi K3 can rival OpenAI and Anthropic
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
Europe
BBC Business

Why has British Steel been nationalised?

Image source, Getty ImagesByJennifer Meierhans and Shanaz Musafer, Business reportersPublished11 April 2025Updated 1 hour agoBritish Steel has been taken into public ownership after years of uncertainty over the future of the steelworks. It comes months after the UK government took control of the company's plant in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, though it was still owned by China's Jingye Group. British Steel's Scunthorpe plant employs 2,700 people, about three-quarters of the company's workforce. It is the last plant in the UK producing virgin steel, which is used in major construction projects like buildings and railways. It has fewer imperfections than the recycled steel made elsewhere in the country. Were the plant to stop producing virgin steel, the UK would be the only member of the G7 group of leading economies without the ability to make it. The government views that as a risk to the UK's economic security. In 2016, Tata Steel sold the loss-making part of its business that made "long products" like transport rails and steel sections for construction. Private investment firm Greybull Capital bought it for £1 and renamed the business British Steel. However, following financial collapse in 2019, British Steel was taken over by the government's insolvency service. On 16 July this year, the UK government brought it into public ownership, and Jingye is now seeking compensation for nationalisation. China's commerce ministry has hit out at the nationalisation, saying it "firmly opposes and is strongly dissatisfied with the British government's decision". In late March 2025, Jingye said the plant was losing around £700,000 a day and launched a consultation on its closure. It said the blast furnaces were "no longer financially sustainable," blaming "highly challenging" market conditions, tariffs and costs associated with moving to lower-carbon production techniques.

Why has British Steel been nationalised?
Europe
The Guardian

Apple dethrones Nvidia to regain title of world’s most valuable company

The Apple Store signage is seen at Grand Central Station in New York City earlier this year. Photograph: Michael M Santiago/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenThe Apple Store signage is seen at Grand Central Station in New York City earlier this year. Photograph: Michael M Santiago/Getty ImagesAppleApple dethrones Nvidia to regain title of world’s most valuable companyShift in pecking order illustrates that investors are reassessing outlook for artificial intelligence Apple overtook Nvidia on Friday to become the world’s most valuable company, reshuffling the top ranks of tech heavyweights as investors reassess the outlook for artificial intelligence. Apple was last valued at $4.88tn as ⁠its shares held steady, while Nvidia ⁠was roughly at $4.86tn, ​after a 3.5% decline. Nvidia became the first company in the world to surpass a $5tn market valuation in October, a landmark that propelled it into a rarefied territory that ​was far beyond the reach of its rivals. Being superseded by Apple does not necessarily signal a lasting change in the companies’ relative standing. The chipmaker remains a major beneficiary of AI-related spending, and its graphics processors are powering much of the generative AI frenzy. The shift in the pecking order illustrates that investors are broadening their focus beyond the most obvious beneficiaries of the AI boom, such as Nvidia, which had been at the helm for nearly a ⁠year. Apple is reclaiming the top spot for the first time since April last year. “Apple was seen as a laggard in the AI race because it wasn’t spending to develop models, but now sentiment has changed,” said Toni Meadows, head of ⁠investment at BRI Wealth Management. Last month, the company rolled out a long-delayed overhaul of Siri, betting the upgraded assistant would help close the gap with big tech rivals and new-age startups in the crucial AI race. For a company that ‌was often seen trailing in the AI ‌race, the milestone reflects Apple’s efforts to establish itself more firmly among the sector’s leading players, and could shape how CEO Tim Cook’s final months at ‌the helm are viewed. Cook is preparing to cede his role to hardware veteran John Ternus in September. Nvidia could reclaim the top spot if sentiment shifts. Apple is in a delicate position, having raised prices to offset rising costs – a strategy that could hurt demand. “I don’t see any meaningful distinction. Nvidia likely to be a significant ⁠participant in whatever happens going forward,” said Benjamin Hall, vice-president, alpha research at Segal Marco Advisors. However, the AI ​enthusiasm has spread to other corners of the semiconductor ​industry. The bigger winners this year have been memory ​chipmakers such as Micron, which crossed $1tn in market value in May as investors embraced the significance of memory chips in ​AI infrastructure.

Apple dethrones Nvidia to regain title of world’s most valuable company
North America
CNBC Finance

Anthropic moves closer to mega-IPO as bankers line up investor meetings

Anthropic is lining up meetings with investors ahead of a potential initial public offering later this year, a person with knowledge of the plans told CNBC. Bankers leading the offering are scheduling meetings between prospective investors and executives of the artificial intelligence firm behind the popular Claude models, said the person, who declined to be identified speaking about the process. The meetings suggest Anthropic's IPO preparations are advancing, as bankers begin sounding out investor demand before a formal roadshow and eventual share sale. Anthropic confidentially filed its IPO prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission last month, but hasn't disclosed when it plans to debut. The giant AI startup could hit the public markets as soon as October, though the timing could change, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the investor meetings. An Anthropic spokesperson declined to comment. An Anthropic listing would build on momentum from June's massive SpaceX IPO and further open the public markets to companies at the center of the AI boom. It follows years in which the industry's biggest names remained private while raising hundreds of billions of dollars from investors. Anthropic appears poised to beat rival OpenAI to the public markets, which could be an advantage for the startup if AI enthusiasm later wanes. OpenAI also confidentially filed for an IPO with the SEC in June, but it has not disclosed any additional details. Anthropic was founded in 2021 by a group of executives and researchers who defected from OpenAI over concerns about the company's direction. Anthropic has found early success selling to enterprises, in large part due to its popular coding assistant, Claude Code. The company closed a $65 billion funding round at a $965 billion valuation in May, pushing it above OpenAI's $852 billion valuation for the first time. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase, the three biggest Wall Street banks by revenue, are involved in the IPO planning. The AI spending boom has fueled a resurgence in profit for Wall Street firms as they seek to satisfy investors clamoring for ways to fund the buildout and invest in or hedge aspects of the theme. Get this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services. Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis.

Anthropic moves closer to mega-IPO as bankers line up investor meetings
North America
CNBC Finance

Here's why the housing market is hurting so much this summer

Two different reads on the housing market released Thursday point to the same problem, one that appears to be getting worse. Housing is just too expensive — to own and to build. Pending home sales in June, a measure of signed contracts on existing homes, fell 5.4% from May, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales were down 0.3% from June 2025 and were well below analysts' expectations. This read is based on people out shopping for homes in June and making the decision to sign a deal, so it is the most timely measure on the state of the market. "The highest mortgage rates in nearly a year and the record-high national median home price together are contributing to a tepid housing market that is especially difficult for first-time homebuyers," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a release. Mortgage rates in June bounced around a narrow but higher range, with the average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage starting the month at 6.6% and ending at the exact same rate, according to Mortgage News Daily. It had been as low as 5.99% at the end of February, the day before the Iran war started. Mortgage demand from homebuyers has been weakening in the past month. Last week, applications for a mortgage to buy a home were 2% lower than they were the same week the year before, even though mortgage rates were slightly higher last year. Meanwhile, sentiment among the nation's single-family builders fell in July, according to another report released Thursday from the National Association of Home Builders. It dropped to 34, down from an upwardly revised reading of 36 in June. Sentiment has stayed below 40 for 15 consecutive months, the longest such stretch since 2012. Anything below 50 is considered negative sentiment. "Affordability remains the home building industry's primary challenge, as elevated mortgage rates, costly land, rising material prices, and persistent skilled labor shortages continue to affect the market," Robert Dietz, NAHB's chief economist, said in a release. CNBC's Property Play with Diana Olick covers new and evolving opportunities for the real estate investor, delivered weekly to your inbox. A rising share of builders, 37%, cut prices in July, up from 35% in June and 32% in May. The use of sales incentives was 63% in July, up slightly from 62% in June and marking the 16th consecutive month that share has reached 60% or higher, according to the NAHB. Dietz said the newly enacted housing legislation from Congress, which attempts to cut red tape and help localities speed up permitting for housing, "is a positive step that will help expand housing supply and lower overall housing costs, although more policy change is needed at the state and local level." Prices for existing homes continue to rise, with the median hitting a new record in June, according to the NAR. While there are local pockets of weakness, low supply of housing in general is keeping upward pressure on prices.

Here's why the housing market is hurting so much this summer