Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, raised September crude oil prices for Asian buyers to record high levels despite falling refining margins.

Russia became India’s third-largest coal supplier in July, with imports rising by over a fifth compared with June to a record 2.06 million tonnes, data from Indian consultancy Coalmint showed.

Oil prices were broadly steady on Thursday as the market weighed tight supply against fears of a demand slowdown, after a build in US crude and gasoline stocks sent prices to multi-month lows in the previous session.

China’s Ant Group on Wednesday logged net profit of 11.38 billion yuan ($1.68 billion) in the quarter to March, down 17.3 per cent from a year earlier, according to Reuters calculations from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s, earnings report.

Amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and sanctions imposed by the West on Moscow’s nine major banks, India and Russia are trying to resolve the issue of payment for a large quantity of oil bought by India from Russia avoiding the Western sanctions. 

India’s headline retail inflation is expected to ease to its lowest level in five months in July due to declining food prices as well as the lagged effect of a cut in fuel taxes, Barclays said.

Export restrictions being considered by Washington to halt China’s advances in semiconductor manufacturing could come at a substantial cost, experts say, potentially disrupting fragile global chip supply chains - and hurting US businesses.

The West’s energy giants are set to return a record $30 billion to investors after reporting bumper profits in the second quarter of the year following a surge in energy prices.

India has cut fuel export taxes for the second time in less than two weeks and increased a windfall tax on locally produced crude oil, a government notification on Tuesday said.

As the world’s biggest soft drinks makers cut their Russian ties, local producer Chernogolovka is aiming for a 50 per cent share of the country’s near $9 billion market, its boss told Reuters.

The Indian rupee lost ground on Wednesday after four straight sessions of gains as the country’s ballooning trade deficit and uncertainty around the upcoming central bank decision dented its appeal.

Euro zone retail sales plunged in June and factory gate prices continued to rise, data showed on Wednesday, adding to fears the 19-country single currency zone is heading for recession.

India’s record high trade deficit in July signals a further deterioration in the country’s external balances, which is likely to keep the rupee under pressure, analysts said on Wednesday.

Fanning out like urban guerrillas through Paris’ darkened streets well after midnight, the anti-waste activists shinny up walls and drain pipes, reaching for switches to turn off the lights.

The Reserve Bank of India will hike its key interest rate on Friday, economists polled by Reuters said, but there was no consensus on the size of the move

The Russian economy has been deeply damaged by sanctions and the exit of international business since the country invaded Ukraine, according to a new report by Yale University business experts and economists.

France, Italy and Spain are stepping up pressure on the European Commission to come up with legislation that ensures Big Tech firms partly finance telecoms infrastructure in the bloc, a document showed on Monday.

The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on Chinese and other firms it said helped to sell tens of millions of dollars’ in Iranian oil and petrochemical products to East Asia as it seeks to raise pressure on Tehran to curb its nuclear programme.

South Korea’s consumer inflation sped up to an almost 24-year high in July, data showed on Tuesday, but other figures indicated the rate of price rises may be near a peak.

US manufacturing activity slowed less than expected in July and there were signs that supply constraints are easing, with a measure of prices paid for inputs by factories falling to a two-year low, suggesting inflation has probably peaked.