European shares hit two-week high as investors gauge earnings, economic data
ADVERTISEMENT The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.2%, as of 0710 GMT, while the UK's blue-chip FTSE 100 fell 0.2%.
Britain's economy grew by a faster-than-expected 0.3% in the second quarter, official figures showed. Economists polled by Reuters, as well as the Bank of England, had forecast a 0.1% growth for the April-June period.
Global stocks have rallied recently, driven by firming bets of a U.S. interest rate cut next month, leading to record highs on Wall Street.
Among individual stocks, Embracer slumped 24.1% and was the top laggard on the STOXX 600 index after the gaming company's first-quarter operating profit missed estimates. Carlsberg fell 4.8% after the Danish brewer missed half-year profit and volume forecasts, and said it did not expect any improvement in the consumer environment for the remaining year.
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Hans India
2 hours ago
- Hans India
India should take steps to lessen impact of US tariffs
US President Donald J Trump recently took an aggressive action on India by imposing an additional tariffs of 25 per cent over and above 25 per cent already imposed recently as the order cites threats to the United States by the Government of Russian Federation as the India continues to purchase of Russian Federation Oil, which has not been responding adequately to the peace efforts taken by President Trump but continues to attack Ukraine. US President Trump feels that purchasing oil from Russia in this period of Russia and Ukraine war, gives the necessary financial support to Russia and that would directly or indirectly help Russia in carrying out its war against Ukraine. It can be recalled that President Trump had earlier expressed his dissatisfaction with India over its oil purchase from Russia. This order imposing an additional tariff of 25 per cent on Indian imports as an action against continued purchase of Russian oil, established a process for the potential imposition of similar tariffs on other countries that directly or indirectly import oil from Russia. These measures are taken as the US feels that Russian Federation actions in Ukraine pose a threat to US national security and foreign policy. The reasons stated that India's importation of Russian Federation oil undermines US efforts to counter Russia's harmful activities. India's subsequent reselling of this oil on the open market, often at significant profit, further enables Russia to fund its aggression. By imposing a 25 per cent tariff, President Trump aims to deter other countries from supporting the Russian Federation's economy through oil imports. China, India and Turkey are the biggest customers of Russian oil and there are other countries too like Hungary, Belgium, France, Slovakia and Netherlands. These European countries bought natural gas. India, in its response, stated that India began importing from Russia because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict. The United States at that time actively encouraged imports by India for strengthening global energy markets stability. It's a known fact that India depends upon external countries for supply of oil as it imports 85 per cent of its requirements and oil is the essential requirement for India and it is in national interest to ensure supply of oil to the people. Apart from Europe which not only imports energy, but also fertilizers, mining products, chemicals, iron and steel and machinery from Russia, the US continued to import Uranium Hexafluoride for its nuclear industry, palladium for its EV Industry, fertilizers as well as chemicals from Russia. Hence, India has categorically stated that in this background, targeting it is unjustified and unreasonable. India further said that like any major economy, it will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security. However, President Trump may be irritated with the tough stand taken by India on opening of the agricultural sector and animal husbandry, etc., and the interim/ final trade agreement could not be achieved within the deadline. But India made its intention clear. 'We have already made clear our position on these issues, including the fact that our imports are based on market factors and done with the overall objective of ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion people of India,' the Indian government said in a statement. It is therefore extremely unfortunate that the US chose to impose additional tariffs on India for actions that several other countries also taking in their own national interest. With this additional tariff, India has the highest tariff of 50 per cent along with Brazil which is also facing highest 50 per cent. This additional tariff on India will be effective from August 27. The textiles exports, gem and jewellery, automobiles and auto components, marine products and some agricultural and processed foods are likely to be significantly affected by the US' additional tariffs on the Indian goods. Other sectors that could be impacted include steel, aluminium and some other petrochemical products. However, India can reduce the adverse impact of the US tariffs by reducing operational costs for manufacturers through ease of doing business measures. It can also go for market diversification. Few experts have said that this could be an opportunity for India to bring in significant reforms to reduce the burden by improving the supply chains. Efforts should also be made to reduce logistics cost and pave way for easy and quick turnaround time at ports and airports. Indirectly referring to the US tariffs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed that India will never compromise with the interests of its farmers and fisherman. He further added that while he knew he would 'have to pay the price' for his stand, he said he was ready to do it for farmers. He is bang on, to say the least. Whatever the motive of Donald Trump, the tariffs being imposed by the US on India are unreasonable and unjustified. Such unreasonable decisions will have an adverse impact on the long-standing relationship India and USA have. Hopefully, a trade pact between India and the US will reduce tensions between the two countries.
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
OpenAI staff looking to sell $6 billion in stock to SoftBank, others
Current and former employees of OpenAI are looking to sell nearly $6 billion worth of the ChatGPT maker's shares to investors including SoftBank Group and Thrive Capital, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday. The potential deal would value the company at $500 billion, up from $300 billion currently, underscoring both OpenAI's rapid gains in users and revenue, as well as the intense competition among artificial intelligence firms for talent. SoftBank, Thrive and Dragoneer Investment Group did not immediately respond to requests for comment. All three investment firms are existing OpenAI investors. Bloomberg News, which had earlier reported the development, said discussions are in early stages and the size of the sale could change. The secondary share sale investment adds to SoftBank's role in leading OpenAI's $40 billion primary funding round. Bolstered by its flagship product ChatGPT, OpenAI doubled its revenue in the first seven months of the year, reaching an annualized run rate of $12 billion, and is on track to reach $20 billion by the end of the year, Reuters reported earlier in August. Microsoft-backed OpenAI has about 700 million weekly active users for its ChatGPT products, a surge from about 400 million in February.
Mint
2 hours ago
- Mint
Trump-Putin meeting sparks hope of tariff relief for India: Ex-diplomat says, 'maybe it will be put in abeyance...'
Former diplomat Veena Sikri has expressed optimism that the United States may put the additional tariffs on India on hold, following the recent meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. The summit, which both leaders have described as 'very productive,' seems to have created a positive outcome that could alleviate the tariff threat, ANI reported. Sikri noted that before the meeting, the situation for India appeared grim, with the US secretary for the treasury Scott Bessant warning of further increase of tariffs if the meeting didn't go well. "Before the summit in Alaska, President Trump and President Putin, one of Trump's senior ministers, the US Secretary for the Treasury, Mr. Bessant, had even said that, if the meeting doesn't go well, then we may further increase the tariffs on India. So then it was not looking good at all,' she said. However, following the positive outcome of the talks, there are now indications that the US may not proceed with the threatened tariffs, at least for the time being. Trump, on Saturday, said that his meeting with Russian President Putin in Alaska "went really well." He also held a telephonic conversation with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, several European leaders and the Secretary General of NATO and stated that a peace agreement is the best way going forward. Speaking to ANI, Sikri suggested that it is likely that Trump and Putin discussed the issue of tariffs on Russia's oil sales to countries like China, India, and the European Union (EU). "From President Trump's side, I think there is some kind of discussion on this, definitely with President Putin, and it seems that an understanding has been reached that tariffs on Russia's oil sales to China, India, and even the EU do not need to be imposed,' she said. She further added that 'there might even be a possibility of trade between Russia and America. So, there is talk of that... President Putin talked about it, saying, 'Oh yes, we have good trade with the USA.' I think this issue of the additional tariff may not come up; maybe it will be put in abeyance for a while.' Sikri highlighted a key moment from a post-summit press interaction where journalists questioned President Trump about why China, a major buyer of crude oil from Russia, had not been hit with tariffs. Trump replied that he's going to wait for a few weeks, and then it may not be necessary to put tariffs. His statement further strengthens the view that the tariff threat is receding.
