The price per tola climbed Rs2,830 to Rs455,063, while 10-gram gold rose Rs2,547 to Rs389,534, according to the All-Pakistan Gems and Jewellers Sarafa Association (APGJSA).

The gains reversed Monday’s decline, when the per-tola rate had shed Rs3,094 to close at Rs452,222.

Globally, gold rose $28 to $4,326 per ounce, inclusive of a $20 premium.

Silver also edged higher, adding Rs141 to trade at Rs7,314 per tola.

Brent futures fell $3.40, or 3.6%, to $90.85 a barrel at 10:28 a.m. EDT (1428 GMT), while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude slid $3.71, or 4.1%, to $87.59.

That ​put Brent on track for its lowest close since April 17 and WTI on track for its ​lowest close since May 29.

Israel and Iran halted direct attacks on each other on ⁠Monday after an appeal by Trump for them to stop, but Tehran said it would resume hostilities if ​Israel continued to attack its ally, the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.

Iran, however, has so far held back from attacking ​even after Israel struck the historic port city of Tyre in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, killing at least eight people.

“The oil market is drifting lower … as the latest shooting match between Israel and Iran was diffused in favour of a ceasefire and as Trump ​continues to talk the market lower by suggesting that an end of the war with Iran could be reached ​in 2-3 days with negotiations in their final stages,” analysts at energy advisory firm Ritterbusch and Associates said in a note.

Iran ‌has continued ⁠to block most shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which, before the war, carried a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas. Washington has imposed its own blockade of Iranian ports.

Elsewhere around the world, China’s May crude imports slumped 29% to their lowest levels in eight years, extending a sharp decline in the world’s ​largest oil importer that is ​helping keep a lid ⁠on global oil prices.

WORLD SUPPLY, DEMAND AND INVENTORIES

The oil market awaited global oil supply and demand data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday and weekly storage ​reports from the American Petroleum Institute (API) trade group later on Tuesday.

Analysts estimated energy firms ​pulled 3.4 ⁠million barrels of crude from US storage during the week ended June 5.

If correct, that would be the first time energy firms pulled crude out of storage for seven weeks in a row since January 2025. It compares with a ⁠decrease ​of 3.6 million barrels in the same week last year and an ​average decline of 0.7 million barrels over the past five years (2021 to 2025).

Brent crude futures rose 13 cents, or 0.14%, to $94.38 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate were up 11 cents, ​or 0.12%, at $91.41 a barrel.

Prices climbed as much as 5% in the previous session after ​renewed Israeli strikes on Iran and attacks in Lebanon reduced hopes of ⁠an imminent end to the wider war, but pared gains after Iran’s armed forces announced the end ​of military operations against Israel.

“While there is some relief from the latest pause in direct strikes, ​investors are not convinced the truce will hold,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.

The market is pricing in continued uncertainty rather than a lasting resolution, Waterer added.

Iran and Israel said they had halted attacks on each ​other after an appeal from US President Donald Trump that they immediately “stop ‘shooting’”, though Tehran said ​it would resume strikes if Israel continued to hit Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“While this helped stop the situation snowballing, the ‌geopolitical ⁠backdrop remains tense, and a lasting peace deal remains elusive,” said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement carried by Israeli television that Israel would respond with force if Iran attacked again.

Trump told Axios in an interview published on Monday that he warned ​Netanyahu that he might ​find himself fighting alone ⁠if he went back to war with Iran.

“The key question is whether current de-escalation efforts can finally translate into a longer-lasting resolution, or if ​we’re simply in another temporary lull,” Waterer said.

One of the key issues ​Washington is ⁠pressing Tehran for in peace talks is the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s supply of oil passed before the US and Israel launched airstrikes on ⁠Iran ​at the end of February.

On Monday, US forces disabled an unladen ​oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman after it attempted to sail to an Iranian port in violation of the ​ongoing blockade against Iran, the US military said.

The long-awaited update supersedes a list from early 2025 and comes less than a month after President Donald Trump met China’s Xi Jinping on a visit to Beijing, where the two leaders maintained a delicate trade war truce.

China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that the list was discriminatory and “unreasonably suppressed” Chinese companies, urging the US to “correct its mistaken practices.”

“China will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises,” ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters at a briefing.

The list now includes a broad swathe ​of China’s top technology firms, key to advancing Beijing’s military and industrial prowess, reflecting Washington’s security concerns amid intense geopolitical competition between the countries.

In February, when Trump’s trip to China had been pending, the Pentagon briefly posted ​an updated list, known as the 1260H or CMC list, but then quickly withdrew it with little explanation.

The new version released on Monday mirrors the withdrawn February list with the ⁠exception of the inclusion of China’s top memory chipmakers CXMT and YMTC, two companies that had been removed from the short-lived February index to the ire of Washington’s China hawks.

Other companies added include biotech firm WuXi AppTec, AI-driven robotics company ​RoboSense Technology Co Ltd and Unitree, a leading Chinese maker of humanoid and quadruped robots. On June 1, US AI chipmaker Nvidia said it plans to work with Unitree to build robots for researchers.

LISTED FIRMS CONDEMN DECISION, VOW LEGAL CHALLENGE

BYD, the world’s ​largest EV seller, said in a statement to Reuters that it firmly opposed being labelled a military company and would use all “feasible administrative and legal means” to safeguard its rights and interests, adding that the decision harmed “its development achievements in the United States.”

Alibaba said in a statement there was “no basis” for its inclusion on the list. “Alibaba is not a Chinese military company nor part of any military-civil fusion strategy.

We will take all available legal action against attempts to misrepresent our company,“ the e-commerce and tech conglomerate said.

WuXi AppTec responded that its inclusion ​on the list was “incorrect” and said in a statement that it would “take immediate actions to challenge and correct this erroneous designation.”

Search engine and AI giant Baidu “categorically” rejected its inclusion on the list, and in a statement said: “The suggestion that Baidu ​is a military company is entirely baseless. We will not hesitate to use all options available to us to have the company removed from the list.”

CXMT and YMTC did not respond to requests for comment. Neither did RoboSense, Unitree, BOE Technology Group, Tianma Microelectronics, ‌TP-Link Technologies, CALB ⁠Group, EVE Energy, Zhongji Innolight, JA Solar Technology and Trina Solar, all of which appeared in the CMC list for the first time.

Some companies, including two entities owned by Chinese state-owned oil major China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) - CNOOC China Ltd and CNOOC International Trading - were removed. However, CNOOC subsidiary China BlueChemical Limited was added, and the department filing noted that CNOOC is directly controlled by China’s government.

REMOVAL FROM LIST IS POSSIBLE

Companies can at times be taken off not because the US determines they aren’t linked to China’s military, but because they no longer operate in the US or because an entity’s name has changed.

The listed firms “qualify for designation as ‘Chinese military companies,’” and operate in the US, the Pentagon said in its filing, ​which is required at least annually under US law.

The ​companies can petition for removal, it added.

House of Representatives ⁠China Select Committee Chair John Moolenaar said the updated list “is a warning to American businesses, all levels of government, and the American people.

These Chinese companies are working with the Chinese military against our national interests.“

The Pentagon also included telecoms equipment maker Baicells, which Reuters reported was under investigation by the FBI and Commerce Department last year.

The company did not immediately ​respond to a request for comment.

US MILITARY BARRED FROM BUYING FROM LISTED COMPANIES

Though the listing does not formally impose sanctions on Chinese firms, under recent US law, the ​Defence Department will be prohibited starting ⁠later this month from contracting directly with companies on the list, and from buying their products or services via third parties beginning in 2027.

Those measures could have material costs for the Chinese firms and their partners.

In filings with Hong Kong’s stock exchange, NIO said it would not be impacted by the procurement restrictions, while Alibaba said the listing would not affect its ability “to conduct business as usual in the US or anywhere in the world.”

Being added to the list also sends a potentially damaging message to ⁠Pentagon suppliers and ​other US government agencies about the US military’s opinion of the firms, some of which have sued the US over their inclusion.

Craig Singleton, a ​China expert at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies think tank in Washington, said the publication of the list served as a post-Trump-Xi summit reality check on the heightened state of US-China competition.

“Washington is no longer treating these as isolated companies. It is treating the entire technology stack as ​strategically contested,” Singleton said.

The reduction was approved following government consent and relates to the quarterly adjustment for the January-March 2026 period, the notification said.

The lower tariff will be applicable for three months, from June through August 2026, and will be reflected in electricity bills during that period.

According to the notification, the quarterly adjustment will apply to electricity consumers nationwide and is expected to provide relief amounting to Rs67.173 billion.

The regulator said the reduction was made under the quarterly adjustment mechanism covering the January-March 2026 period.

According to a report by Semafor, Neom’s budget includes 60 billion Saudi riyals ($16 billion) in anticipated payments to contractors linked to the termination of long-term agreements following a major scaling back of the project.

Launched by Mohammed bin Salman under Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 programme, Neom was envisioned as a futuristic development featuring coastal resorts, an industrial zone, a mountain ski destination and the flagship linear city known as The Line.

The Line, originally planned as a 170-kilometre city stretching across the desert, was significantly reduced in scope after rising costs and project delays prompted a strategic review.

The reported termination payments stem from penalty clauses in contracts tied to projects that have been cancelled or downsized.

The move reflects a broader reassessment of Neom’s scale and financial viability as Saudi authorities seek to manage escalating costs.

The Financial Times previously reported that officials were considering a much smaller version of the original vision, while several architects and urban planning experts questioned the feasibility of the project from both economic and planning perspectives.

Neom is estimated to have cost Saudi Arabia around $64 billion so far. The Line alone was previously projected to require an investment of roughly $500 billion.

The project underwent a strategic review after Aiman Al-Mudaifer took over as chief executive last year, leading to restructuring, layoffs and revisions to development plans, according to reports.

Now, India is increasingly counting the cost of the Iran war, which ​economists say will keep mounting if the deadlock between the US and Iran remains unresolved and the blockage of oil supplies continues.

As the world’s third-largest oil importer and consumer, India ‌ships in about 90% of its oil, making its economy one of the most exposed to the war and the prolonged war-related disruptions, which include the effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz through which a fifth of global oil and gas transit.

While India has announced a flurry of measures to contain the impact on the rupee and foreign exchange reserves, the latest of which were from the Reserve Bank of India on Friday, analysts say the broader drag on economic growth, inflation and government finances is set ​to increase so long as oil prices remain elevated.

“India is set for a series of supply shocks,” Michael Langham, emerging markets economist at Aberdeen Investments, said.

Apart from pressure on oil prices, the country ​also faces supply disruptions to fertiliser as a result of the Iran war, which will impact key crops like wheat when farmers are already bracing for an ⁠El Niño weather phenomenon that often portends drought.

“This will all drag on India’s growth outlook, yet the ability of the RBI to look through the energy price shock from the Strait of Hormuz will be increasingly difficult ​given the overlapping nature of these supply shocks,” Langham said.

At the end of last year, India’s central bank governor, Sanjay Malhotra, talked about a “rare Goldilocks” phase for the economy as it headed into 2026.

Inflation levels were falling ​, and growth remained relatively strong.

The Iran war upended that outlook.

India’s oil-and-gas import bill jumped 53% in April from March, prompting forecasts for the balance of payments (BoP) deficit — essentially money coming into the economy netted off against money going out — to balloon.

HSBC says that Friday’s series of steps may do a lot to limit the currency damage.

Until Friday, it had expected India’s BoP deficit to swell to about $65 billion in 2026-27, but now expects the measures to improve the balance by about $30 billion.

In 2025-26, India’s BoP ​deficit was at $25.2 billion or 0.6% of GDP.

India is also curbing gold imports, urging citizens to limit foreign travel and calling for more use of public transport to reduce oil demand.

“Difficult position”

But the macro picture is ​more challenging.

Benchmark international oil prices surged after the war began on Feb. 28, climbing to nearly $120 per barrel.

Prices have eased, but they remain about 30% higher overall, while gas prices have risen 75% over the same period.

As a result, the ‌central bank ⁠sees inflation averaging 5.1% in the financial year to the end of March 2027, up from a 3.48% reading in April, and economic growth slipping to 6.6% from 7.7% in the previous year.

While the RBI kept rates on hold last week, interest rate swap markets are pricing in at least 25 basis points of rate hikes over the next three months and more than 75 basis points over the next year.

“India continues to face deeper structural challenges which have weighed on foreign direct investment, employment, manufacturing expansion, consumption, and nominal GDP growth,” said Sat Duhra, portfolio manager at the Asia ex-Japan equity team at Janus Henderson Investors.

Duhra said the energy shock will undermine growth and ​pressure government finances.

“Any move to rein in public-sector capex ​to stabilise conditions would risk further slowing growth,” ⁠he said. “This leaves policymakers in a difficult position.”

Strong oil demand

India delayed raising retail fuel prices as import costs mounted. Petrol and diesel are up less than 10% since then, compared with 50% or more in some other oil-importing countries in Asia.

Petrol and diesel prices are deregulated, but the government exerts significant influence as the majority shareholder ​of the key retail companies.

Elsewhere, high prices have reduced demand and helped balance undersupplied markets.

The government has said it will not compensate fuel retailers for losses, ​a strategy analysts say will ⁠come at a cost for the government, such as through reduced dividends, and so cut its financial firepower to handle the crisis.

The government’s fertiliser subsidy is likely to jump 20% in 2026/27, a government official said.

Fertiliser is vital for India’s agrarian economy, which supports nearly half the population, but may be more so this year given the risk of drought owing to El Niño.

The government also cut gasoline and gasoil taxes, forgoing 140 billion rupees in monthly revenues.

The government is targeting ⁠a fiscal deficit ​of 4.3% of GDP this financial year, but a Reuters poll forecast it would swell to 4.7%, and some economists see it ​going as high as 5%.

India-based credit rating agency Crisil expects further small price increases in retail oil prices, which will have a wider impact.

“The broader effect will reverberate across the economy through higher transport costs, pushing up both food and core inflation,” it said in a ​report.

According to sources, the FBR has prepared a plan to identify and pursue individuals who are not filing tax returns despite appearing financially well-off through their social media activity.

The notices will require recipients to provide information regarding their income, assets, properties and sources of funds. The aim is to determine whether their declared lifestyle matches their tax records.

Sources said the FBR has collected extensive data on individuals showcasing wealth on social media, with assistance from NADRA in identifying and obtaining information about them.

Officials said that in the first phase, affected individuals will be allowed to regularise their tax affairs and submit tax returns.

The individuals concerned will be directed to file their tax returns and provide financial details to the FBR by September 30.

According to the report, legal action may be taken against those who fail to submit returns within the specified period or do not provide satisfactory responses.

The move is part of the FBR’s efforts to expand the tax base and bring financially stable individuals into the tax system who are not currently reflected in tax records.

The price per tola dropped Rs3,094 to Rs452,222, while 10-gram gold fell Rs2,785 to Rs386,987, according to the All-Pakistan Gems and Jewellers Sarafa Association.

Globally, gold declined $30 to $4,297 per ounce, inclusive of a $20 premium.

The drop follows a steeper fall on Saturday, when the per-tola price shed Rs12,489 to close at Rs455,327.

Silver also edged down Rs94 to Rs7,173 per tola.

Sounds of blasts were heard - in Tehran, Tabriz and Isfahan, local media reported early on ​Monday, eroding hopes for an imminent end to the wider war and a restart to crude ​flows through the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent crude futures rose $3.20 or 3.39% to $96.24 a barrel ⁠, while US crude futures were up $2.87 or 3.17% at $93.41 per barrel.

Those gains erased ​Friday’s losses, when prices fell on hopes of a de-escalation in the US-Iran conflict, which has seen oil prices ​rise over 50% since March.

Though Iran on Sunday fired a salvo of missiles at Israeli targets in retaliation, US President Donald Trump insisted that an agreement to end the wider war remains well within reach.

Trump also reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister ​Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from further attacks.

“It’s not going to have any impact on the deal,” Trump told ​the Financial Times. “I call the shots. I call all the shots. He doesn’t call the shots.”

Iran has made a ceasefire with ‌Lebanon a ⁠condition for a peace deal with Washington.

Israel invaded Lebanon in March after Iran-backed Hezbollah fired rockets and drones across the border.

Lebanon and Israel said on June 3 that they had agreed to a ceasefire following negotiations in Washington.

The two countries had previously agreed to a cessation of hostilities in April, but violence continued.

The wider ​war has been stalemated ​since the US and ⁠Israel paused their attacks on Iran in early April, with Tehran blocking most shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the main transit route for one-fifth of the ​world’s oil.

Washington has imposed its own blockade of Iranian ports.

Amid the resulting ​supply crisis, OPEC+ on ⁠Sunday agreed to its fourth increase in oil output in four months.

But analysts said the decision would have little impact since most OPEC+ members could not meet their output targets because of the Hormuz closure or, in ⁠the case ​of Russia, infrastructure attacks that have eroded its production capacity.

“In ​the current market, the physical impact of such a decision would be close to zero,” Rystad Energy’s head of geopolitical analysis, Jorge Leon, ​said in a note to clients.

The business models, ‌based on flying $5 dresses from Chinese factories to shoppers around the world, were already under pressure after US President Donald Trump introduced tariffs and axed customs waivers on low-value parcels last year.

Soaring logistics costs stemming from the Middle East conflict are adding to the strain, data shows, and industry insiders say, with shippers like DHL Express imposing hefty fuel surcharges.

China’s low-cost e-commerce exports, which have surged ​over the past six years, fell 10.9% in April to $9.81 billion, the fifth consecutive month of declines compared to a year ago, according to ​an analysis of Chinese customs data by Luxembourg-based consultancy Trade and Transport Group.

Passing on costs to consumers

Diana Qiao, a Shenzhen-based ⁠seller of women’s clothing on Temu, said she had raised her selling prices by $2 because her shipping cost per garment had increased on average by $1.

“The final ​burden is ultimately borne by consumers,” said Qiao, adding that the increase was needed to protect her profit margins, and sales have declined slightly, but she does not ​so far see a need to change her shipping arrangements.

Falling export values are an indication not just of the cost squeeze, but also that the era of hyper-growth for the large low-cost shopping platforms may be over, analysts and industry insiders say.

They are likely moving more products in bulk into warehouses to dispatch locally rather than flying everything direct from China, said ​Frederic Horst, Trade and Transport Group’s managing director.

“It would make sense given the air freight cost relative to the value of the product,” he said.

“If you’re ​buying a top that is 300-400 grams, you’re getting to the stage where air freight is 60% of the cost.”

Shein has been expanding its warehouse capacity in Europe, last month ‌opening its ⁠third warehouse in Cannock, near Birmingham in Britain.

A spokesperson at AliExpress owner Alibaba told Reuters it remained focused on “maintaining value-for-money pricing for consumers and providing a stable environment for sellers and consumers despite the volatility in global transportation costs”.

Shein and Temu did not respond to questions about the effect of air freight costs on their businesses.

Platforms face weaker demand as business matures

To be sure, exports are still much higher than they were two years ago, and the start of 2025 was marked ​by significant frontloading ahead of US ​tariffs.

But returning to the growth of ⁠the past few years will be harder as Shein and Temu have already gained significant market share, and surging petrol prices are hurting household budgets in the US and Europe.

The European Union is also set to impose a €3 fee on low-value ​e-commerce parcels from July 1.

Air freight costs have an impact, but the platforms are also in a slower-growth phase ​, and consumption overseas is ⁠decreasing because of inflation, said a China-based freight forwarding executive who declined to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

Air freight rates are likely to stay high because of jet fuel prices and will take time to fall even if the Iran conflict ends, said Judah Levine, Freightos’ head of research.

“If ⁠the costs ​stay very high, or even increase further, companies may switch to other modes of transport or ​hold back some of their shipments,” said Martin Habisreitinger, Hellmann Worldwide Logistics’ chief operating officer of airfreight.

The war has cut oil flows via the Strait ​of Hormuz, creating the world’s biggest ever supply crisis as key OPEC+ members ⁠, including Saudi Arabia, have been unable to supply customers in full since the end of ​February.

The crisis for OPEC+ deepened when the United Arab Emirates left the Organisation of the ​Petroleum Exporting Countries after almost 60 years.

Seven core members of OPEC+, which groups OPEC and allied producers including Russia, have increased their output quotas from April to June by almost 600,000 barrels per day.

In reality, the ​group’s production has collapsed due to export cuts by Gulf members, averaging 33.19 million bpd ​in April versus 42.77 million in February, according to OPEC figures.

On Sunday, the seven members will likely increase ‌targets by ⁠about 188,000 bpd from July, the sources said.

This is the same as the June hike, which was adjusted down from monthly increases of 206,000 bpd in May and April to take into account the UAE exit.

All the sources spoke on condition of anonymity and said a ​final decision had not ​been made.

OPEC and OPEC+ ⁠, between them, are due to hold four meetings on Sunday, of which the first is of a panel called the Joint Ministerial Monitoring ​Committee scheduled to start at 1230 GMT, two sources said.

Seven of ​21 OPEC+ ⁠members due to meet later on Sunday are Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Oman.

In recent years, only the seven plus the UAE when it was a member have been ⁠involved in ​the group’s output policy decisions.

A full OPEC+ ministerial meeting ​is also scheduled for Sunday, but is not expected to make any changes to group-wide output policy, the sources said.

According to the All Pakistan Sarafa Association, the price of gold per tola in the domestic market fell by Rs12,489, settling at Rs455,327.

Similarly, the price of 10 grams of gold decreased by Rs11,240 to reach Rs389,772.

In the international market, gold prices witnessed a sharp decline, with the rate per ounce dropping by $124 to $4,328.

In its latest financial outlook released at the IATA annual general meeting in Rio de Janeiro, the industry body said Middle Eastern carriers are forecast to be the only regional airline market to fall into a loss next year.

Passenger demand in the region is expected to decline by 11.4%, while airline capacity is projected to drop by 4.4%. Net profit margins are forecast to fall to minus 6.1%, compared with a positive 9.4% in 2025.

IATA said airlines in the Gulf are facing operational uncertainty due to airspace restrictions, flight disruptions, rerouting, reduced transfer traffic and higher operating costs linked to the conflict.

The association noted that major Gulf carriers rely heavily on transit passengers travelling between Asia, Europe and Africa, and the loss of connecting traffic is weighing on profitability.

Globally, airline industry profits are expected to fall to $23 billion in 2026 from $45 billion in 2025.

Net profit margins are forecast to shrink from 4.2% to 2.0%.

Jet fuel prices remain a major challenge for the sector.

IATA expects average jet fuel prices to reach $152 per barrel in 2026, up sharply from an average of $90 per barrel in 2025.

Global airline fuel costs are forecast to rise from $252 billion to $350 billion, accounting for more than 31% of operating expenses.

Despite rising costs, global airline revenues are expected to increase 9.4% to $1.165 trillion in 2026, supported by higher fares, strong travel demand and growing ancillary revenues.

IATA also highlighted ongoing aerospace supply chain issues, with aircraft order backlogs exceeding 18,000 jets and the average age of the global fleet reaching a record 15.2 years.

The phenomenon is another sign of the so-called “K-shaped” economy that is showing up across consumer markets from luxury to dining, industry watchers say, as high-income travellers spend more while middle- and lower-income groups tighten their belts, with budget carriers in particular feeling the squeeze.

Jet fuel costs have roughly doubled since the start of the ​war in late February, forcing global airlines to cancel flights and raise ticket prices, while missile and drone strikes around the Gulf have seen flights ​almost halve in a region that was a global connection hub.

“The world is in turmoil, but not our passengers,” Deniz Weissenborn, ⁠owner of Platoon Aviation, which charters eight-seat jets, told Reuters, explaining that its clients are wealthy enough to absorb higher prices.

“If you fly in a private jet, I ​don’t think you’re bothered by an increase of 1,000 or 2,000 euros.”

According to aviation data firm WINGX, the number of private flights has increased by about 4% globally ​so far this year, adding thousands of trips.

In the same period, overall global capacity has fallen 3-4%, data from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows.

‘As busy as ever’

Private jet pilots and executives told Reuters that charter jet services are seeing an uptick in bookings as wealthy travellers turn away from premium, business and first class in an effort to dodge the risk of commercial flight ​cancellations and airport disruption due to the conflict.

Amalfi Jets founder and CEO Kolin Jones said there had been around a quarter more requests for Cannes this year compared to last, ​while those for Sunday’s Monaco GP were up almost a third, as people switched up from commercial flights.

“Lots who could afford it but flew commercial are now happy to pay more for the ‌safer option,” ⁠Jones said. “Cannes Film Festival, Monaco Grand Prix, and World Cup-related travel from Europe to the U.S. are driving demand.”

Eight private jet executives said that while private traffic to the Middle East had dipped, given airspace safety concerns, demand for travel to Europe and the United States was likely to approach record levels this year.

“It is as busy as ever,” said Andy Spencer, a private jet pilot who has flown routes in the Middle East and Asia.

During early February’s US Super Bowl in California, private traffic at nearby ​airports was three times that of a ​normal day, WINGX told Reuters.

For ⁠April’s Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, private traffic was 10 times more than normal, jumping from fewer than 50 flights to more than 400.

“Our customers’ flight hours continue to hit record highs month after month,” private jet maker Embraer’s CEO Francisco Gomes Neto ​told Reuters at an executive aviation airshow in May in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

‘People feel safe when they control’

Private jets ​have come in for ⁠criticism from climate groups and campaigners, who say their use underscores global inequality, is a threat to the environment and that regulation of the sector is too lax.

A spokesperson for the European Business Aviation Association said the sector played an important role in Europe’s connectivity and criticism was overly simplistic, while manufacturers and charter operators added that well-heeled individuals were ⁠simply looking ​for more security in uncertain times.

“Every time there are world events, private aviation gets a little bit ​of a bump, every single time,” said Jason Middleton, owner of Silver Air Private Jets, citing the Iran war, the Covid pandemic and unrest in South America.

“It’s like a safety thing…People feel safe when they ​have control.”

Under the updated regulations, foreign companies must submit a commercial registration certificate from their home country and the company’s articles of incorporation, both translated by an accredited office and authenticated by the Saudi Embassy.

Applicants are also required to provide an authorisation document appointing a company representative, similarly translated and certified, the Saudi Gazette said in a report.

The ministry said companies must designate a natural person as an authorised representative through a certified power of attorney to complete registration procedures.

Non-resident companies without Saudi-recognised identification must obtain a digital identity through Saudi diplomatic missions abroad.

For annual registration updates, companies must confirm that there have been no changes to their ownership structure or management since initial registration.

The service is available through the ministry’s electronic portal.

The Investor Guide 2026 introduces a dedicated chapter, “Registration of Non-Saudi Companies for Property Ownership Purposes,” reflecting Saudi Arabia’s effort to regulate foreign real estate investment and align procedures with the new Investment Law.

The guide details procedures for property acquisition, appointment of authorised representatives, obligations regarding property management and disposal, bank account openings, and updating company and representative information with relevant authorities.

According to the ministry, this addition represents one of the most significant updates in the 2026 guide, as foreign company property ownership had not previously been addressed in such detail.

As per the report, the potential sale would mark the telecom’s complete exit from Pakistan.

Last year, Telenor finalised the sale of Telenor Pakistan to the PTCL Group for Rs108 billion, i.e. approximately $385 million. However, Easypaisa, the digital financial services arm, was not part of the telecom sale.

For the quarter ended March 31, 2026, Easypaisa reported a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs1.49 billion and earnings per share (EPS) of Rs2.47, while profit before tax (PBT) reached Rs3.66 billion, a 4.4x increase from Rs0.84 billion in the same quarter last year.

As per Bloomberg, the Norwegian company is working with Citigroup on the sale of its 55% stake in the Pakistani digital bank, which could be valued at several hundred million dollars, according to one of the people.

“Telenor plans to invite initial offers from prospective bidders within the next few months,” the people said. However, considerations are ongoing, and no final decisions have been made, stated the report.

The report informed that Ant Group Co. holds the remaining shares of Easypaisa.

“It would be well received by the financial community to see Telenor simplifying its Asian portfolio,” Christoffer Wang Bjørnsen, an analyst at DNB Carnegie, wrote, quoted Bloomberg.

Under the revised rates, the price of kerosene has been fixed at Rs280.70 per litre.

Previously, kerosene was being sold at Rs272 per litre.

The new price came into effect following the issuance of the notification by OGRA.

The ​explosion occurred between SBM 1 ⁠and 2 berths due ​to an alleged drone attack, they ​said.

It was not immediately clear when the attack took place.

Several supertankers ​were seen anchored off the ​port on Friday, shipping data from ‌LSEG ⁠showed.

The terminal could not be immediately reached for comment outside office hours.

Iranian state media on ​Wednesday ​reported that Tehran ⁠targeted a US military ship hosting a “control ​and command centre” while ​it ⁠was approaching Iranian territorial waters in the Gulf of Oman, ⁠which ​the US Central Command ​has denied.

The Arab world’s most populous nation is staging a cautious comeback after a recent currency crunch, and with the help of an $8 billion programme with the International Monetary ​Fund tied to a reform programme of exchange-rate liberalisation, fiscal tightening and a push to curb the state’s role ​in the economy.

Planned reforms aim to streamline company formation but also ease capital raising and make ⁠M&A processes easier, especially for non-listed firms, Saleh said.

“Within the coming 12 months, the priority would be in the area ​of the ease of doing business for already existing companies to facilitate their life … this is quite a hefty job,” Saleh ​told Reuters on the sidelines of a visit to London.

He also predicted more than half-a-dozen companies would be floated on the country’s stock exchange over the next 12 months, including a number of state-run ones.

State-owned enterprises still play an outsized role across Egypt’s economy with the IMF saying progress in reducing ​their footprint has been slower than expected.

Saleh highlighted how the government had already got the ball rolling, having announced in ​March plans to sell up to a 20% share of Misr Life Insurance - something it had been promising to do for more than 15 years - ‌and ⁠is tipped to raise roughly 14 billion Egyptian pounds ($270.4 million).

“We are expecting around four to five private sector IPOs.”

Pound under pressure

Asked about the currency, Saleh said the government would not veer away from its commitment to a floating exchange rate.

Egypt’s pound has been one of the world’s hardest-hit currencies by the Iran war, falling nearly 8% since the conflict began, which has driven up inflation and threatened to ​reignite worries about the currency’s trajectory.

“Investors can ​deal with volatility; they don’t ⁠deal with uncertainty,” he said. “We were very clear and adamant about our policy direction … we are solely targeting inflation.”

He also said the government would maintain fiscal discipline.

“When we were tested with the ​situation in the region, we were very adamant about it,” he said. “We dealt with it on ​the spot to ⁠maintain our fiscal space and fiscal discipline.”

Asked about the seventh review of the country’s IMF programme, which is expected to be finalised in the coming weeks, Saleh said the government had achieved or even surpassed targets set on metrics such as its fiscal deficit and ⁠primary surplus.

A ​follow-on programme with the Fund once the current one expires by year-end ​was currently not on the cards, he said.

“When you go and enter into a programme, it is because of financial needs, and because of other aspects, those ​things are not present as we speak.”

Musk himself showed up at a lead event – virtually.

His futuristic IPO, which bases its lofty valuation on sci-fi concepts like colonising Mars and data centres in space, has captured the imagination – and wallets – ​of Wall Street and investors clamouring for a piece of the action.

Bank of America, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are all hosting events over the ​next few days.

With plans to raise a record $75 billion, it would be the largest of all time.

At an expected $1.75 trillion ⁠market capitalisation, the company will immediately become one of the most valuable listed names worldwide.

Musk spoke to JPMorgan clients by video link at an event hosted ​by CEO Jamie Dimon on Thursday, in what a source familiar with the matter said was a last-minute addition to the event.

Asked by Dimon what prompted him ​to take SpaceX public now, Musk said: “We’re embarking on a massive new growth phase, and we need capital for that.”

Musk also said he felt “pretty good” about the company’s revenue projections and that revenue had become “much more predictable” than earlier.

SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell and CFO Bret Johnsen attended JPMorgan’s recently opened headquarters in person. Even Musk’s mother, Maye, was ​in the room.

In the first such event for the bank at this scale, with around 3,500 clients tuned in, Dimon said JPMorgan was looking to treat “individual investors ​the same way institutions are treated.”

JPMorgan also played a video of a SpaceX rocket launch on Thursday on repeat across wide screens at its headquarters, along with the words “Go for ‌Launch” projected ⁠several feet high across the lobby.

Bank of America, which is leading the retail distribution effort in the US, decked out the lobby at its midtown Manhattan headquarters with SpaceX rockets and other images for an event Thursday for wealth management clients, a person familiar with the matter said.

The event will be headed by Co-President Jim DeMare, who will interview SpaceX’s Shotwell and Johnsen about the company’s public trading debut, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

It was not clear ​if Musk would participate in the Bank ​of America event.

The bank also ⁠plans to light the building’s spire Thursday night to resemble a rocket ship taking off.

Bank of America’s private bank and Merrill Lynch have invited more than 5,000 clients to market launch parties being hosted by the bank and streamed to ​offices across the US as part of the Merrill presence.

On Monday, Morgan Stanley is hosting an event for its wealth ​management clients featuring ⁠SpaceX executives along with Kate Claassen, the lead banker in the IPO, and wealth management head Jed Finn.

It was not clear if Goldman Sachs was organising an event similar to its well-heeled rivals for its wealth management clients.

The bank is also showcasing SpaceX model rockets in two lobbies in its downtown Manhattan headquarters to mark the stock ⁠debut.

Typically, Goldman ​Sachs does offer large deals to its private wealth clients, according to people familiar with the ​matter.

Separately, Musk faced a setback on Thursday when S&P Global said it would not change the requirements for inclusion in its major indices, effectively ruling out a swift entry for SpaceX into the benchmark S&P 500 index.

The association said gold became cheaper by Rs1,469 per tola on the day, bringing the price down to Rs467,816 per tola.

The price of 10 grams of gold also fell by Rs1,323 to Rs411,012.

In the global market, gold prices dropped by $14.68 to $4,453 per ounce, the association said.

Silver prices also declined, with the rate per tola falling by Rs67 to Rs 7,730.

Spirit’s demise has left thousands of employees scrambling for work in an industry where getting rehired can take months.

Many airlines have a set number of pilots and flight attendants they intend to hire each year and have already recruited for the peak summer travel season.

More broadly, the industry is navigating short-term capacity cuts to mitigate rising jet fuel costs, while also planning for long-term growth.

Sara Nelson, president of the Association of ​Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO, estimated it could take four to five months for several hundred of Spirit’s 3,500 flight attendants to start working at a new airline, and that would ​be a best-case scenario.

Arcamone, who was one month shy of his ninth anniversary at Spirit when he was laid off, is settling into a new ⁠job as a car salesman, while still looking to return to the skies.

But unlike many other industries, rehired pilots and flight attendants must contend with losing seniority and starting at the bottom of ​their new company’s pay scale, while forfeiting flexibility over schedules and base locations.

“My nearly decade of experience at Spirit might help me get a job somewhere else, but it means absolutely nothing when it ​comes to how good that job will be when I walk in the door,” a laid-off Spirit pilot told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid jeopardising job prospects.

“I’ll be a peer to someone who has never flown a jet before,” said the pilot, one of about 1,800 employed by Spirit at the time of its closure.

Former Spirit workers filed a class-action lawsuit last month alleging the carrier failed to provide a proper layoff notice, ​seeking 60 days of pay and benefits for about 17,000 employees, an attorney representing the group said.

Spirit has until mid-July to respond. A company lawyer said at a court hearing that the ​airline gave notice as soon as it could.

Major carriers respond

The roughly 130,000 flight attendants working in the US earn an average wage of $77,440 annually, according to data from the Bureau of Labour Statistics, while just over ‌100,000 airline pilots, ⁠copilots, and flight engineers are paid an annual average of $288,650.

Major airlines have signalled a willingness to absorb some of Spirit’s displaced workers, but hiring remains limited, especially for flight attendants.

Airlines typically map out hiring plans at the start of each fiscal year based on retirements, fleet growth and scheduling needs, limiting how fast they can ramp up recruitment.

Some hiring is tied to peak travel periods, narrowing the window of opportunity, while unpaid training prolongs the wait for a proper paycheck.

United Airlines, which plans to hire 1,300 pilots in 2026, said it has received 2,800 applications from Spirit employees for various roles. Delta Air ​Lines said it plans to hire hundreds of ​pilots and flight attendants in 2026.

Many other ⁠U.S. airlines did not share their firm hiring plans, citing competitive reasons.

American Airlines said 2,000 former Spirit employees have applied for jobs, while Southwest Airlines has launched a microsite for Spirit employees to explore opportunities. Frontier Airlines said it will continue to hire Spirit employees as openings arise, and JetBlue ​Airways said hiring was temporarily on hold.

The flight attendants’ union said airlines had scaled back training classes or paused hiring, making it harder to ​quickly absorb displaced workers.

“Some of ⁠these airlines had been doing weekly classes of around 100 people per week. That has been cut back at the major airlines to 30 every other week or so,” Nelson said.

Pilots may have an easier path back into the cockpit, as airlines expand capacity in the longer term and face a wave of retirements in the coming years.

Those with specialised experience, such as check airmen - who are authorised to evaluate, instruct, ⁠and certify ​other pilots - or simulator instructors are likely to be in higher demand.

But for pilots, the reset is costly unless they ​secure rare direct-entry captain roles.

“It’s a huge pay cut and a huge change from your previous quality of life,” said Taylor Brown, a former Spirit pilot who left the struggling carrier in October last year for a new gig flying for ​UPS.

UPS told Reuters it has all the pilots it needs for now.

Joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February triggered a regional conflict stretching across the Gulf and into Lebanon, disrupting key shipping routes, including the Strait of Hormuz, ​forcing vessels to reroute and sharply constraining global energy flows and supply chains.

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In ​March, the WFP forecast that as many as 45 million people could ⁠fall into acute food insecurity if oil prices remained around $100 per barrel through ​June.

That scenario is now unfolding, the agency said, with benchmark crude prices staying above ​that level since early March.

Households in Afghanistan, Somalia and Sri Lanka are among the most seriously affected and face mounting pressure due to higher fuel costs, food price spikes, income losses, and disrupted ​trade.

In Somalia, 6.5 million people - roughly a third of the population - are expected ​to face severe hunger in 2026, while Afghanistan could see 17.4 million people affected, the WFP said. ‌

The ⁠situation is projected to worsen, with an additional 2.5 million Somalis and 2.3 million Afghans at risk of falling into food insecurity if disruptions persist.

Both countries are reliant on imported energy and food.

The Middle East crisis comes amid a deep ​funding shortfall for ​aid agencies.

The ⁠WFP said it expected to serve 1.5 million fewer people globally in 2026, and an extra 9 million fewer if the ​situation persists for six months.

In Afghanistan, surging fuel prices have ​driven up ⁠aid transport costs as much as fivefold, and delivery times have shot up from 10 days to as many as 75 days as trucks had to use alternative ⁠corridors, the ​WFP said.

In Somalia, soaring jet fuel prices are ​leading to higher operational costs for the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service - the only means to safely ​access hard-to-reach areas, the WFP said.

According to the All-Pakistan Gems and Jewellers Sarafa Association (APGJSA), the price of gold in the local market increased by Rs1,523 per tola, bringing the rate to Rs469,285 per tola.

Similarly, the price of 10 grams of gold rose by Rs1,305, reaching Rs402,335.

The association also reported a rise in global gold prices, with the rate per ounce increasing by $14 to $4,468.

Notably, the previous day had seen a significant drop in local gold prices, with the price per tola falling by Rs8,600.

However, Thursday’s increase reversed that decline, sending rates upward once again.

Brent futures were down 67 cents, or 0.69%, at $97.14 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate CLc1 crude fell 62 ​cents, or 0.65%, to $95.4.

Both benchmarks rose about 2% on ⁠Wednesday, extending the previous session’s gains, after renewed Middle East hostilities, including ​Iranian attacks on Kuwait and US military strikes near the Strait ​of Hormuz.

In the US, the Republican-led House approved a resolution on Wednesday to block Trump from continuing the war against Iran.

To take effect, the resolution ​would need Senate approval and a two-thirds majority in both chambers ​to override an almost certain Trump veto.

Trump suggested on Wednesday that there could be ‌progress ⁠in negotiations with Iran as soon as this weekend.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on Wednesday said Tehran’s contacts with Washington have not been cut off. Still, no progress has been made in the negotiations, as both sides have been studying the exchanged texts.

Meanwhile, US crude stockpiles fell by 8 million barrels to 433.7 million barrels ​in the week ended May 29, the Energy Information ​Administration ⁠said on Wednesday.

That compares with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a 4-million-barrel draw.

Haitong Futures said in a note that oil ⁠prices are ​likely to move toward the upper ​end of their range due to a persistent supply-demand imbalance as global crude inventories ​fall rapidly.

The most-feared regulations, due to take effect in April 2027, sharply increase penalties when renewable power producers fail to deliver electricity matching their commitments to the grid, according ‌to industry executives, investor presentations and documents reviewed by Reuters.

Industry groups estimate the tougher regime could cut revenue by about 11% for solar projects and as much as 48% for wind farms, fuelling concerns that India could make renewable investments less attractive just as it seeks billions of dollars to expand clean energy capacity.

India’s federal power regulator has said a tougher framework is needed to protect grid stability as renewable capacity expands rapidly.

The dispute over the new rules underscores the challenge of integrating growing volumes of renewable power into India’s grid ​while preserving investor confidence as the country seeks to meet its clean energy target of installing 500 gigawatts of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030.

Under the revised rules, penalties rise according to the gap between scheduled and actual power supplied to the grid.

“Developers will face ⁠very high penalties even when deviations are small. This tightens margins, revenues will shrink and project viability will be affected,” said Debabrat Ghosh, India head at energy consultancy Aurora Energy Research.

Investors and developers generally eye at least a ​10% internal rate of return (IRR) for solar projects, and at least 12% to 13% for hybrid projects combining solar and wind, analysts and industry executives said.

Aurora expects the new rules to reduce IRRs by 1.5 percentage points for wind ​projects and by 1.2 percentage points for hybrid projects.

Wanted: Real-time weather forecasts

The penalties expose companies to financial risks they cannot fully control because renewable energy generation depends on weather conditions that remain difficult to forecast accurately in India, developers said.

“Renewable energy operates within the limits of weather and forecasting uncertainty,” said Raghavendra Upadhya, chief executive of the Wind Independent Power Producers Association, which represents more than 50 clean energy producers.

“While grid discipline is essential, the current approach places additional risk on projects built under earlier frameworks,” he said.

Smaller developers whose ​projects are most at risk from the tougher rules referred Reuters to their industry associations for comments.

The National Solar Energy Federation of India, which represents more than 100 clean energy companies, has challenged the regulation in court.

Officials have told ​industry representatives there can be no compromise on grid discipline, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Stricter rules unsettle foreign investors

Industry executives said the policy shift has caught developers off guard because many existing projects were bid and financed under a more lenient ‌regime, leaving ⁠them exposed to costs that were not factored into their original economics.

“The market has not yet developed for generators to be that accurate,” said Pratyush Thakur, India country head at Blueleaf Energy, a clean energy producer and investor, owned by Australia’s Macquarie Asset Management.

The concerns have also unsettled other major foreign investors that have poured billions of dollars into India’s clean energy sector.

Investors, including Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Actis, raised concerns with Indian officials during a meeting in April, according to five industry sources familiar with the discussions.

The investors warned about the impact of lower returns, policy unpredictability and financial stress from tighter grid rules, while arguing that regulatory tightening was advancing faster than improvements in transmission ​infrastructure and battery storage capacity, the sources said.

Because of ​these challenges, investment in the sector would slow, Thakur ⁠said, although he added that Blueleaf remained committed to India because of its long-term renewable energy potential.

Blueleaf plans to deploy about $3 billion in India, including around $1 billion in equity over the next three years, but expects grid-related constraints to delay the equity deployment by a further two to three years.

Actis said India continued to be one of its ​preferred investment destinations.

KKR and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Industry groups have also appealed to the prime minister’s office for ​relief, two sources said.

The clean ⁠energy ministry has held discussions with industry groups and appears open to easing implementation of the rules, according to the sources and documents reviewed by Reuters.

But the power ministry, its technical adviser, the Central Electricity Authority, and Grid India, the country’s grid operator, have maintained that stricter enforcement is necessary to prevent grid instability.

The prime minister’s office, power ministry, clean energy ministry, Central Electricity Authority and Grid India did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

Costly upgrades to meet tougher regulations

Developers say India ⁠still lacks several ​tools needed to meet the tighter standards.

Industry executives say weather forecasts in India are typically updated only a few times daily, compared with ​near real-time forecasting in some European power markets.

To adapt, renewable energy companies are investing in upgraded forecasting systems, automated weather stations and data science teams to improve power scheduling accuracy.

The industry will need to take other steps, such as adding batteries, said Kartikeya Sharma, co-founder of Sunsure Energy.

Sunsure ​is installing advanced automated weather stations on site and subscribing to real-time, high-resolution satellite weather data from European providers, he said.

In a notice submitted to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Wednesday, OGDCL said the discovery was made after testing the hydrocarbon potential of the Lower Goru Formation at the well site, where the company holds a 100 per cent working interest.

According to the company, a cased-hole Drill Stem Test (DST) conducted on the formation produced 2,000 barrels of oil per day (BOPD) and 1.1 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (MMSCFD).

The test was carried out at a choke size of 32/64 inch, with a wellhead flowing pressure of 1,050 pounds per square inch.

OGDCL said the Bobi Deep-1 well was re-entered on May 3, 2026, and drilled to a total depth of 3,305 metres in the Sembar Formation using the company’s in-house technical and operational expertise.

The company described the find as a significant milestone for the Bobi and Dhamraki Mining Lease, noting that it is the first hydrocarbon discovery from the Massive Sand play in the area.

OGDCL said the discovery not only establishes a new exploration play but also reduces exploration risk for similar prospects in the surrounding region, potentially opening new opportunities for future resource development.

The company added that the discovery is expected to strengthen Pakistan’s domestic energy resources, help narrow the country’s energy demand-supply gap, and enhance both OGDCL’s and the nation’s hydrocarbon reserves.

According to data shared by the jewellers association, the price of gold per tola dropped by Rs8,600 in Pakistan to settle at Rs467,762,

Similarly, the price of 10 grams of gold decreased by Rs7,373 to Rs401,030.

In the international market, gold prices also registered a notable decline, falling by $86 per ounce to $4,454 per ounce.

Just one of six foreign-based companies ​that listed their Indian units in Mumbai since 2024 raised new funds, with all others structured purely as secondary offerings — or offer for sale (OFS), where existing shareholders sell their holdings ‌to the public without raising any new funds, according to data from Prime Database, an Indian market research firm.

Foreign-based parents of companies that have long invested in India pocketed nearly $5 billion through such secondary-offering IPOs, with Hyundai Motor and LG Electronics accounting for more than 80% of those payouts, the data showed.

Simply put, for each dollar raised in these IPOs taken together, more than $59 went out.

And the trend is continuing: the planned $1 billion IPO of Walmart’s Indian payments arm and Modern Times Group’s $335 million IPO of its ​local gaming unit will both take the OFS route.

This week, Coca-Cola said the planned listing of its Indian bottler will have the American firm sell a portion of its stake.

Banking sources said Carlsberg’s planned ​Indian IPO will also have no new funds raised — it will also be an OFS.

The trend, which bankers and economists say is a result of sky-high stock ⁠valuations in India in recent years, shows that the prospect of a lucrative partial exit from Indian investments has become more attractive to many foreign companies than raising new funds to expand.

Global companies are pursuing “India listings ​as this provides them liquidity as well as a positive impact on the market cap for their parent, said Prashant Gupta, a partner at law firm Shardul Amarchand, which advised both Hyundai and LG on their OFS-structured ​IPOs.

Modern Times declined to comment, while Carlsberg said it is “exploring different options for increasing shareholder value, which may potentially include an Indian IPO.

Walmart’s Indian unit, PhonePe, Hyundai, LG and other companies did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Rupee woes

The OFS trend comes at a troubling time for the Indian rupee, which has fallen 13% against the US dollar since 2024 and 6% so far this year.

That has raised concerns that the IPO-linked repatriations are compounding already heavy foreign capital outflows.

In January, MUFG ​Bank wrote that its analysis “shows one important contributor to Indian rupee weakness has been the strong IPO market in India.”

So far this year, foreign portfolio investors have sold more than $23 billion of their holdings, surpassing 2025’s ​record outflows of $18.9 billion.

IPO-linked capital outflows are “exerting a steady, though not abrupt, depreciation bias on the rupee,” said Tanay Dalal, a senior vice president of business and economics research at Axis Bank.

Government officials and regulators have not indicated that they ‌would try to ⁠curb the OFS trend, though India’s Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran warned in November that IPOs had “increasingly become exit vehicles for early investors rather than mechanisms for raising long-term capital.”

“This undermines the spirit of public markets,” he said. He did not respond to Reuters queries.

The valuations game

India was the world’s second-largest IPO market in 2025 after the US, with 367 listings raising $21.8 billion, according to LSEG data.

Its markets surged to record highs over the last two years before starting to struggle this year due to uncertainties related to the US-Israeli war on Iran.

Still, a record $26 billion worth of IPOs are awaiting approvals, according to regulatory data.

The appeal for using the ​OFS route is rooted in valuations.

Indian-listed units of foreign ​firms have consistently traded at multiples that dwarf ⁠their parents.

Add to that a growing group of domestic investors that has resulted in high valuations in India over the past two years, making local listings attractive, lawyers and bankers said.

At least six foreign companies that listed their Indian units in recent years trade at a significant premium to their overseas parents, according to ​LSEG data.

Nestle India, which was listed in 1969, has a price-to-earnings ratio - a measure of stock valuations relative to profit - of nearly 77 times, versus 22 times ​for its Swiss parent Nestle.

LG Electronics ⁠India, which was listed last year, trades at nearly 59 times versus 44 times for its South Korean parent, LG Electronics.

On the day Hyundai listed its Indian unit in 2024, it was valued at about $18 billion, roughly 40% of its parent’s market capitalisation.

“What’s driving this is smart capital allocation — asset owners capitalising on cross-market valuation arbitrage,” said Abhishek Gang, a director at US-based investment bank Houlihan Lokey.

Since 2024, the IPOs of the Indian units of Italian transmission systems maker ⁠Carraro, Norwegian consumer ​goods group Orkla, and American auto parts maker Tenneco Clean Air all had OFS structures.

Only one — Britain-based Bupa’s India unit, Niva ​Bupa Health Insurance — structured its local IPO as a mix of fresh fundraising of $84 million and a larger $146 million OFS component.

“The final structure balanced the company’s capital requirements with shareholder objectives, with the fresh capital supporting growth plans and the OFS providing partial liquidity to existing ​investors,” Niva Bupa said in a statement to Reuters.