Latest Developments

Europe
BBC Business

AI gold rush draws crypto firms away from Bitcoin

Companies that once filled warehouses with computers to earn Bitcoin - a process known as mining - are now using that computing power for AI. Bitcoin mining companies invested large sums on giant banks of powerful computers as the price of Bitcoin rocketed in recent years. But those mining companies have faced falling rewards since the value of the cryptocurrency has slumped from its peak in October 2025. Now many are pivoting to AI and signing deals with companies such as Anthropic - who are spending billions of dollars on the infrastructure needed to keep up in the AI race. Like AI systems, Bitcoin relies on vast networks of powerful computers housed in data centres. Because Bitcoin operates without a central authority, these computers verify transactions and are rewarded with newly-created digital coins. But the rewards have reduced and the value of coins has dropped since last year. One bitcoin was worth about $124,000 (£91,000) at its peak in October 2025, but has since fallen sharply. More recently, it has rallied to around $80,000 - meaning it is up almost 30% so far in August. But, for companies that have already made the change, even that may not be enough to get them to return to the crypto industry, because the switch of use - once made - is expensive to undo. Industry analysts say Bitcoin mining companies have been pivoting to AI because they have years of experience in finding cheap electricity and efficiently running large data centres. TerraWulf, Ionic Digital, Core Scientific, Iris Energy, Bitdeer, Riot Platforms and Hut 8 are just some of the companies increasingly diverting investment and infrastructure from bitcoin mining towards AI.

AI gold rush draws crypto firms away from Bitcoin
North America
Yahoo Finance

US Stock Indices End Week Lower On Pressure From Elevated Long-Duration Treasury Yields — PSKY, MSTR, WMT, TSLA, NVDA In Focus

US stock indices climbed higher on Friday amid positive business-activity data, but ended the week lower as elevated Treasury yields weighed on risk sentiment. The S&P 500 ended Friday 0.4% higher, while the Nasdaq 100 rose 0.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1%. The Russell 2000, which tracks stocks with small market capitalizations, gained 0.9%. However, all three benchmark indices ended the week lower, with long-duration yields (US30Y) rising for the second consecutive week, primarily owing to the Treasury Department’s plan to buy back bonds. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits for QQQ, SPY, and DIA was ‘bearish’ with ‘high’ message volumes. Investor confidence got a mild boost on Friday after an S&P Global gauge showed U.S. business activity grew at its fastest pace in more than four years. In parallel, Bitcoin extended its winning streak to a fifth consecutive day, jumping as much as 9.4% to top $79,000—its sharpest single-day gain since February. Shares of Strategy Inc. advanced 6.1%, with other crypto-adjacent stocks following suit. “The strong trigger in Bitcoin was driven by the Treasury’s move to buy back bonds at the longer end of the yield curve,” Bernstein analysts wrote in a note, referring to the Treasury Department’s announcements this week. “We are not macro experts, but we do know Bitcoin historically has had a positive reaction to liquidity expansion.” On Friday, longer-dated yields continued their ascent, with the 10-year Treasury note yield gaining more than 3 basis points to 4.734%. The 30-year Treasury bond yield also advanced more than 3 basis points to 5.273%. Paramount Skydance (PSKY): California Governor Gavin Newsom has reportedly said he would prefer a settlement of the state attorney general’s lawsuit opposing Paramount Skydance Corp.’s (PSKY) $110-billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (WBD) Nvidia Corp. (NVDA): The chipmaker reached an agreement to license artificial intelligence software from startup Poolside for $6 billion and plans to extend employment opportunities to more than 100 of the firm's staff, according to a report by Bloomberg. Walmart (WMT): Major Wall Street brokerages are advising investors to capitalize on Walmart’s steepest stock drop in four years, maintaining that the retail giant’s long-term growth story remains intact. Strategy (MSTR): Bitcoin’s (BTC) move above $77,000 pushed the company’s massive Bitcoin holdings back into unrealized profit.

US Stock Indices End Week Lower On Pressure From Elevated Long-Duration Treasury Yields — PSKY, MSTR, WMT, TSLA, NVDA In Focus
North America
CNBC Economy

Bessent says there's a 'very good chance' U.S. budget deficit under Trump has peaked

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday there's a "very good chance" that the U.S. budget deficit under President Donald Trump has likely peaked. "We are going to be laser focused," Bessent told CNBC's Sara Eisen in an exclusive interview a day after his department's extraordinary debt buyback announcement. The monthly U.S. budget deficit topped $432 billion in July, its highest level in more than half of a decade, the Treasury Department said last week. That monthly report showed the gap for the fiscal year to date climbed to almost $1.8 trillion, above where it was at the same point a year earlier. The Treasury Department announced this week that the U.S. government debt pile to fund those deficits hit a new record above $40 trillion. The total has more than doubled over the last decade, exacerbating concerns about the country's financial health. Bessent said himself, Trump and Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, are among federal government leaders working on fiscal consolidation measures. Several hundreds of billions of dollars could be saved through these efforts, Bessent said. The White House has marketed its goals for broad and steep tariffs on trading partners as a driver of revenue that can help shrink the national debt. But those levies have run into repeated legal roadblocks, most notably with the Supreme Court's decision to strike many of them down. Yet Bessent said he expected this year's tariff revenue to come in at around the same level as 2025's after levies were re-implemented despite the challenges. Those revenues should not have to be refunded to companies this time, he said. "There's nothing magic about the 40-trillion number," Bessent said. "We can grow our way out of that." 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.

Bessent says there's a 'very good chance' U.S. budget deficit under Trump has peaked
North America
CNBC Economy

Bessent says Treasury buyback operation could be more than $4 billion

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Thursday that an accelerated buyback of government debt could be higher than the announced $4 billion. In a live interview, Bessent said his department is going "make a market" in the longer-dated securities where yields have been surging lately. Treasury announced Wednesday that it would be doubling its scheduled $2 billion in buybacks of longer-dated government debt, sending yields sharply lower. "We're going to increase the size of the buyback," he said. "I would note that it could be more than the 4 billion per issue." The remarks caused a brief easing in yields, which had largely reversed the decline following Wednesday's announcement. The 30-year bond most recently was trading around 5.235%. The so-called long bond recently had been trading at levels not seen since prior to the global financial crisis in 2008. The benchmark 10-year yield also briefly pulled back as Bessent spoke but then headed higher, most recently up about 5 basis points to 4.704%. One basis points equals 0.01%. The Treasury chief noted that the level of yields did not factor into the buybacks decision and he wants to see fundamentals control the market. While he said the buybacks could grow, Bessent declined to attach a figure, saying it will depend on market conditions. "We'll see what the conditions are, and you know we will analyze them," he said. "All we're trying to do is get people to focus on the fundamentals and not trade the headlines during a quiet period in a thin market." Bessent acknowledged the pressure at the farther reaches of the curve, saying that the current trading levels didn't reflect current economic conditions. "We have a big toolkit, so we'll see," he said. "Part of it is signaling here and to show that we believe that the yields don't reflect the underlying fundamentals." He also characterized liquidity for the 30-year bond as "very poor," providing another incentive for Treasury to intervene in what normally is a robust market. Multiple factors have combined to push yields higher: Surging debt and deficits in the U.S.; competition from other areas including corporate debt issuance related to artificial intelligence and higher yields from other sovereigns such as Japan, and escalating term premiums, or the extra yield investors demand to hold government debt.

Bessent says Treasury buyback operation could be more than $4 billion
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Hindustan Zinc bags mining lease for rare earth element block in Karnataka

Hindustan Zinc has bagged a mining lease for the 314.21-hectare Gundlupet rare earth element and Yttrium block in Karnataka. | Photo Credit: cueapi Vedanta group firm Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL) on Thursday said it has bagged a mining lease for a rare earth element block in Karnataka. The Gundlupet rare earth element (REE) and Yttrium block extends over an area of 314.21 hectares in Chamrajnagar District, Karnataka. “Government of Karnataka has issued a Letter of Intent (LoI), pursuant to Rule 10(2) of the Mineral Auction Rules 2015, in favour of Hindustan Zinc Ltd, the preferred bidder for grant of a mining lease for the Gundlupet REE and Yttrium Block over an extent of 314.21 Hectares situated in Mallayanapur village, Gundlupet Taluka, Chamrajnagar District, Karnataka,” the company said in a stock exchange filing. Rare earth elements are essential to modern technology. From smartphones and electric vehicles to wind turbines, defence systems and advanced electronics, these minerals are the backbone of both civilian and military-industrial capabilities. Hindustan Zinc Chairperson Priya Agarwal Hebbar had earlier said that it is actively exploring opportunities in rare earth elements and seeking global partners for AI- and drone-based exploration of critical minerals. Addressing the shareholders during the 59th Annual General Meeting, Hebbar had said, “Further, we are actively pursuing exploration opportunities in copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, potash, and rare earth elements, while also looking at neodymium from monazite, antimony, graphite and germanium.” According to Hebbar, the company has evolved from being the country’s largest zinc and silver producer to become a multi-metal, future-enabling enterprise. Last year, the company had bagged a potash block in Rajasthan. The company has also received a letter of intent from the Government of Uttar Pradesh for a Rare Earth Elements block. Hindustan Zinc, the world’s largest integrated zinc producer, is among the top 10 silver producers globally. The company supplies to more than 40 countries and holds a 74 per cent market share in the primary zinc market in India. 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.

Hindustan Zinc bags mining lease for rare earth element block in Karnataka
North America
CNBC Finance

Wells Fargo and Citigroup have room to buy a big bank. These 5 regionals fit the bill

Walk the halls of any major banking conference or listen in on a quarterly earnings call, and one topic keeps coming up: With the window for mergers wide open under the Trump administration, who will take a swing? After years on the sidelines because of regulatory restrictions, large banks can once again contemplate buying other lenders, even a $100 billion-plus-asset regional bank. While JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America are barred from such a deal because they already have more than 10% of national deposits, there are two megabanks that could pursue a large acquisition: Citigroup and Wells Fargo. The nation's third- and fourth-largest banks have enough room under the national deposits cap to pursue a hefty regional bank, according to investment bankers, consultants and investors. "Two years ago, it was impossible for a bank of that size to get approval to acquire almost anything," said Brian Graham, co-founder of advisory firm Klaros. "Now, it's possible they can get a deal done. I'd be shocked if they aren't exploring it." After spending much of the last decade in a penalty box — Citigroup via consent orders and Wells Fargo capped by growth restrictions — both institutions have cleared key regulatory hurdles and are in growth mode. A large acquisition — like the ones that rival JPMorgan pulled off during the crises of 2023 and 2008 — would give Wells Fargo or Citigroup thousands of branches and billions of dollars in deposits. For Citigroup, which has only about 650 U.S. branches, it would offer a much-needed source of cheaper funding. For Wells Fargo, which already has a large branch network, such a transaction would add more scale and cost-cutting opportunities. "There's a massive race for scale, and the shot clock is running," KBW analyst Chris McGratty said about the broad need for industry consolidation. "If you want to do something, this is the time to do it." While there are over 4,200 banks in the U.S., only a handful would make sense as acquisition targets for Wells Fargo or Citigroup. A viable target needs to be large enough to move the needle, but small enough to keep the acquirer comfortably beneath the 10% national deposit cap. On top of that, a complementary branch network, good cultural fit and quality deposits are must-haves, making most deals hard to justify. Run screens on those criteria, and five regional banks emerge as strong contenders for either bank. Fifth Third delivers a commercial and retail engine across the Midwest and a fast-growing Southeastern footprint. Huntington provides a low-cost deposit base alongside a growing branch presence in high-growth markets in Texas and the Carolinas. Citizens offers dense retail and commercial coverage across affluent Mid-Atlantic and New England cities. KeyCorp brings a middle-market commercial business and branches stretching from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Northwest.

Wells Fargo and Citigroup have room to buy a big bank. These 5 regionals fit the bill
North America
CNBC Finance

After 10 years at United, CEO Scott Kirby is thinking big about the future of his airline from JFK to AI

"Everyone thinks I do, but no, I don't," said the United Airlines CEO, whom American Airlines fired 10 years ago, when he was president of that carrier. "I compete aggressively." United announced it had hired him as president on Aug. 29, 2016, a blink after American disclosed his departure. Now, Kirby is running the second-most profitable U.S. airline after Delta Air Lines. And his former employer, American, is a distant third of the big, more-than-century-old, U.S. carriers, though it's working to ramp up revenue through a host of upgrades, including bringing back seatback screens. Kirby floated the idea of megamergers with both Delta and American in the past year, combinations that would bring together some of the biggest airlines in the world. He's so far been rebuffed, and antitrust experts were skeptical about the possibility. He's thinking bigger than he has before as the industry faces ever-higher costs, limited airport infrastructure and a population that's ready to shell out more to fly — often in the expensive seats — to the next "it" destination. CNBC rode with Kirby from the west side of Midtown Manhattan to United's hub at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey earlier this month, where the 59-year-old executive outlined his vision for the carrier before his flight. Kirby said he wants to expand United's footprint at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport after his airline returns to the congested airport through a partnership with American's former partner, JetBlue Airways, as early as next year. "We got a bunch of irons in the fire to try to find ways to do it," he said, adding that United could at some point acquire slots from carriers that aren't flying profitable routes out of the airport. And while United already holds the crown among U.S. airlines for international flights, which are in high demand among U.S. tourists, he wants to expand the carrier's footprint abroad even more. This week, United is set to announce a host of new international routes, the carrier's annual splash that has previously included new dots on the map like Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and Bilbao, Spain. United has been touting its international expansion for years, saying its vast network acts as a driver for customer loyalty and sign-ups for lucrative travel rewards credit cards. Its route announcements typically come with much fanfare. Kirby, a three-decade airline executive, is the United States' most outspoken airline CEO. His team knows this, and they've stopped telling him well in advance what will be on tap for the next batch of Instagram-friendly routes. "They no longer tell me in advance because they're afraid I'll spill the beans, which is fair," he said. While Delta has still had a lead on profits, CEO Ed Bastian doesn't want to give up ground to United. It is starting to expand flights over the Pacific, a United stronghold.

After 10 years at United, CEO Scott Kirby is thinking big about the future of his airline from JFK to AI
Asia
The Hindu BusinessLine

Auto sector must prepare for end of EV subsidies, Heavy Industries Secy

Government subsidies for electric vehicles will end in the coming years, while the automobile industry needs to strengthen charging infrastructure and increase investment in R&D, a top official said. Government subsidies for electric vehicles will end in the coming years, and companies need to be prepared for the challenge, a top official said on Thursday. The Indian automobile industry must collaborate to set up charging infrastructure to promote electrification on a larger scale, Kamran Rizvi, Secretary in the Heavy Industries Ministry, said while addressing the annual convention of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) here. He also asked automobile and component makers to spend more on R&D, stressing the need to carry out research and development at a much larger scale. While India has become a champion in electric mobility with the support of the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, “I can lay out some key challenges, which will happen in the next four or five years. The first thing that will happen is that subsidies and government support will come to an end, and in fact, they have come to an end in some sectors”. The electric three-wheeler segment in India currently accounts for 50 per cent of total sales in the segment, which is significantly higher than the target of 10 per cent by 2026, Rizvi pointed out. Two to three years later it could be 75 per cent, he said, adding that two-wheelers are not far behind as 7 per cent of all two-wheelers sold are electric. While cars have also done well at around 4-5 per cent of electric penetration, Rizvi said there is a great opportunity for electric buses, with demand outstripping supply by a huge margin. Drawing auto makers’ attention to charging infrastructure, he said, “SIAM members need to get the act together on electric charging that we have left this charging business to charging companies”. Stating that OEMs need to do more to get charging infrastructure ready across the country, he said, “We have identified 60 high-priority corridors which need to be electrified with certainty”. The ministry has approved Rs 2,000 crore that can be made available to OEMs, he said. “We should do it in the next two to three years so that all the important highways have been saturated.” Asking the auto industry to increase investment in R&D, Rizvi said, “Your balance sheets are very strong. You can afford to spend on research...” R&D would enable the industry to catch up with technology much faster as it would shorten the time for innovation, he said, adding that India needs to become inventors of technology.

Auto sector must prepare for end of EV subsidies, Heavy Industries Secy
Europe
BBC Business

How Dolly Parton's business savvy helped her succeed far beyond the charts

Image source, Getty ImagesByMitchell LabiakBusiness reporterPublished4 hours agoNot many musicians would snub a chance to work with Elvis Presley. But when Dolly Parton did so, it made her millions. In 1974, after writing and recording I Will Always Love You, Parton was asked if Presley could cover the song. She turned him down after his manager demanded half the rights. "Of course, I cried all night about that," she later said of the ordeal in an interview. But she wasn't crying in 1992 when Whitney Houston's power-ballad cover became a hit. Global sales of the song topped 20 million, earning Parton more than $10m in royalties, according to business magazine Forbes. This is the less well-known side of Parton. While country music and films brought her fame, her entrepreneurial zeal brought her fortune. The country icon signed deals, started companies, and invested in ideas that Forbes says built her a net worth of $450m by the time she died. Parton wasn't always wealthy. She grew up in poverty and in her 1971 hit Coat of Many Colours describes how she would wear rags which her "mama" had knitted together to school. In a 2017 BBC interview, she said her father gave her business lessons from early in her career. "My dad wasn't an educated man, he wasn't able to read and write, but my daddy had a great sense of business," she told the BBC's World Service in 2017. "So when I got into the music business, I thought of it as a business. And so I started early on keeping my own songs and my own publishing company." While her publishing company helped build her wealth, Parton had plenty of other business ideas. In 1985, she co-founded a film and TV production company called Sandollar Productions, which helped to make 90s cult thriller Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

How Dolly Parton's business savvy helped her succeed far beyond the charts