Category: 3. Business

Gold fell as traders sought to track shifts in US trade policy, with bullion edging lower as President Donald Trump signaled an additional 10% tariff would apply to countries aligned with the BRICS group of nations.

Bullion lost as much as 0.9% to near $3,306 an ounce following the president’s threat, which gave the US dollar a small lift. With the US negotiating deals ahead of an initial July 9 tariff deadline, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated a possible extension to negotiations, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said country-by-country tariffs would take effect Aug. 1.

The story so far:

Google’s AI-powered summaries, known as AI Overviews, are facing a formal antitrust complaint from a coalition of independent publishers in the European Union, as per a report by Reuters. Their complaint, lodged with the European Commission, alleges that Alphabet’s Google is abusing its market dominance, siphoning traffic and revenue from publishers, and threatening the viability of independent journalism. The feature, rolled out in over 100 countries, represents Google’s major strategic bet on integrating generative AI directly into its core search experience. However, this move has ignited fierce opposition from content creators who claim it undermines the very ecosystem that Google’s search engine relies on.

What is Google AI Overviews?

AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of Google’s search results page, positioned above the traditional list of blue links. Their purpose is to provide users with a quick, synthesised answer to their query, drawing information from multiple web sources. These overviews can range from a few paragraphs to lists or tables and often include links to the source websites within the generated text.

First introduced as an experiment called Search Generative Experience (SGE) in May 2023, the feature is now a core part of Google Search in many regions.

How do AI Overviews work?

When a user enters a search query, Google’s systems determine if generative AI could be particularly helpful in providing a comprehensive answer. If so, it employs a customised version of its advanced AI model, Gemini, to process the request.

The system doesn’t rely solely on the AI’s pre-existing knowledge. Instead, it uses a technique called Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), where it actively fetches and analyses relevant information from its web index. The AI then synthesises this information into a coherent summary. Google states that these overviews are designed to be backed up by top web results, and include links to allow users to “dig deeper.”

Why are publishers accusing Google?

The crux of the dispute lies in how these AI-generated answers impact the businesses that create the original content. The Independent Publishers Alliance, alongside groups like the Movement for an Open Web and the legal advocacy non-profit Foxglove, argues that this new feature hurts competition and is causing “serious irreparable harm,” as per the Reuters report citing documents it has seen.

The publishers’ key complaints stem from the concern that their content will be disincentivised because of Google’s AI feature. By providing a direct summary at the top of the page, users have less incentive to click through to their websites.

This leads to a significant drop in traffic, which in turn slashes advertising revenue and subscriber numbers, the lifeblood of many online publications.

Their complaint alleges that Google is “misusing web content” by scraping information from publisher sites to train its AI models and generate summaries without fair compensation. Since May 2024, Google has also begun placing ads within these AI Overviews, meaning it is directly monetising content that publishers have invested in creating.

The complaint highlights that there is no way to opt out of having their content used for AI Overviews without also being removed from Google’s main search results. Given Google’s dominance in search, becoming invisible on the platform is not a feasible option for any publisher.

How are regulators getting involved?

The formal complaint, per the report, was filed with both the European Commission and the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The publishers are asking for “interim measures” to stop Google from using the feature while the case is investigated, to prevent further damage.

While the European Commission has not commented publicly on the complaint, it has previously investigated Google for other anticompetitive practices.

The U.K.’s CMA has confirmed receipt of the complaint and noted that AI Overviews fall within the scope of its ongoing work to designate Google with a “strategic market status.”

This designation would grant the CMA more power to regulate Google’s conduct, potentially including rules that give publishers more control over how their content is used in AI summaries without having to be de-listed from search entirely.

How is Google defending AI Overviews?

Google has pushed back against the publishers’ claims. A company spokesperson stated that “New AI experiences in Search enable people to ask even more questions, which creates new opportunities for content and businesses to be discovered.”

The company maintains that it sends billions of clicks to websites every day and that traffic fluctuations can be due to many factors, such as seasonal interest and regular algorithm updates. Google also claims that clicks from pages with AI Overviews are of “higher quality,” meaning users are more likely to stay on the sites they visit.

Published – July 07, 2025 08:30 am IST

China’s new anti-dumping duty targeting European brandy unexpectedly became the toast of France over the weekend, after Beijing granted exemptions to a string of French cognac makers.

But French leaders ended up hailing the ruling as a “positive step”, after a deal was brokered that saw major producers including Hennessy, Martell and Rémy Martin sign on to a minimum export price that exempted them from the levy.

That allowed Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi to wrap up his European tour on a positive note on Sunday, with Beijing having published an official list of 34 companies exempted from the tariff and French industry insiders sharing that the move could have a huge impact.

The exemptions will cover roughly 90 per cent of French cognac exports to China in volume terms, according to France’s Union Générale des Viticulteurs pour l’AOC Cognac (UGVC), a producers’ union with 2,000 members.

French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot framed China’s announcement as an “agreement” reached between China and the cognac industry at a joint press conference with Wang on Friday evening, Paris time.

Datadog (DDOG) shares remain in focus after soaring to a six-month high at the end of last week on news that the cloud monitoring company will be joining the S&P 500 on July 9.

Typically, stocks that get included into benchmarks like the large cap S&P 500 receive a boost as they become visible to new investors and get added to index-tracking exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Datadog shares lost more than half their value between December and April as uncertainty over the Trump administration’s tariffs and downbeat earnings projections from the compamy pummeled the stock. However, they have nearly doubled from their 2025 low and are up about 9% since the start of the year, boosted by renewed investor appetite for cloud and AI stocks. The stock jumped 15% to around $155 on Thursday, ahead of the July 4th break.

Below, we take a closer look at Datadog’s chart and use technical analysis to point out price levels that investors will likely be watching.

Bullish Rising Wedge Breakout

After bottoming in early April, Datadog shares traded higher within a rising wedge before staging a decisive breakout in Thursday’s trading session. Importantly, the jump occurred on the highest daily volume since the stock went public in September 2019, signaling strong buying conviction from larger market participants.

While the relative strength index confirms bullish price momentum, it also flashes extreme overbought conditions, potentially raising the possibility of short-term profit-taking.

Let’s identify two key overhead areas on Datadog’s chart to watch and locate important support levels worth monitoring.

Key Overhead Areas to Watch

Follow-through buying this week could see the shares climb to the $170 area. The price may run into selling pressure in this location near the prominent December swing high.

Investors can project an upside target above this area by using the bars pattern tool. When applying the analysis, we take the stock’s trend higher that followed an earlier breakaway gap on the chart in November 2023 and reposition it from the low of Thursday’s gap. This projects a bullish target of around $205, about 32% above last week’s closing price.

Important Support Levels Worth Monitoring

Profit-taking in the stock could see a retracement toward $135. This area would likely attract strong support near a trendline that connects the top of the rising wedge with a series of price action on the chart stretching back to January last year.

A deeper correction could trigger a decline to lower support around $125. Datadog shares find a confluence of support in this region near the 200-day moving average and a horizontal line that links a range of corresponding trading activity on the chart between December 2023 and June this year.

The comments, opinions, and analyses expressed on Investopedia are for informational purposes only. Read our warranty and liability disclaimer for more info.

As of the date this article was written, the author does not own any of the above securities.

Forget the usual salted caramel or white chocolate. A new wave of Indian chocolatiers and pastry chefs is infusing flavours like paan, kaapi, gulkand, and even imli into European-style bonbons, truffles, and ganaches. The result? Artisanal chocolates that surprise, comfort, and stir a deep sense of nostalgia. This Chocolate Day, we explore some bold desi flavours redefining the cocoa experience. Smriti Bhatia, chocolatier, says, “Our choco-paan wraps, chocolate chutney tadka and kabuli chana chocolates are absolute bestsellers. These flavours may sound experimental, but they’re deeply familiar to Indian palate.” Ananya Deshpande, chocolatier, adds, “Indian flavours like cardamom and masala chai work beautifully with chocolate – they add warmth, depth, and a familiar comfort that people instantly connect with.”

Flavours that are getting a gourmet spin:

Paan: Betel leaf, gulkand, and fennel in dark ganacheFilter coffee: South Indian kaapi reduction in milk chocolateKesar-pista: Saffron-pistachio pralines in white chocolate shellsJamun: Tart fruit purée folded into ruby chocolateNolen gur: Bengal’s winter jaggery in caramel trufflesMasala chai: Black tea and spice blend in semi-sweet ganacheKaala namak & imli: Tangy bonbons with tamarind caramel

Occasion meets flavour:

Meetha paan: After-dinner mini indulgence or mehendi favourMasala chai: Rainy-day indulgence, festive boxesNolen gur: Winter gifting, corporate hampersKesar-pista: Bridal showers, Rakhi treatsKaapi: Wedding return gifts, festive trays

On Monday, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) set the USD/CNY central rate for the trading session ahead at 7.1506 as compared to Friday’s fix of 7.1535 and 7.1626 Reuters estimate.