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Gold prices steadied near two-week highs on Friday and was headed for their best week in six as U.S. Treasury yields backed off highs ahead of speeches by top central bankers including Fed Chair Jerome Powell that could guide on future interest rates. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold was down 0.1% at $1,915.89 per ounce by 0120 GMT, holding below its highest since Aug.

Brics is set to add heft to the grouping of emerging economies as it announced on Thursday the inclusion of six new members, including India's key partners in the Gulf and North Africa, a development that Prime Minister Narendra Modi described as a message that «all global institutions need to transform considering the changing times». South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa made the announcement at a joint press conference of the leaders of the current members — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — on the concluding day of the 15th Brics summit in Johannesburg. «We have decided to invite the Argentine Republic, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to become full members of Brics from 1 January 2024,» said the joint declaration issued at the end of the 15th Brics summit. At the summit, the Brics leaders tasked their finance ministers and central bank governors, as appropriate, to consider the issue of local currencies, payment instruments and platforms, and report back to leaders by the next summit.Deep relations The group also decided to clear the path for further expansion. «We have also tasked our foreign ministers to further develop the Brics partner country model and a list of prospective partner countries and report by the next summit,» said the joint statement. Prime Minister Modi said at the joint press conference — in the presence of Ramaphosa, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva — that the decision to expand the grouping will strengthen the belief of many countries in a multipolar world. The PM said the inclusion of new members will

India's Permanent Mission to the UN on Friday celebrated the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission. «Marking the triumph of the #Chandrayaan3Mission we gathered with our colleagues from the Permanent Missions in New York. We extend our gratitude for your presence and unwavering support on this occasion,» the Indian Permanent Mission to UN wrote on 'X' formerly Twitter on Friday. Meanwhile, Permanent representative to UN Ruchira Kamboj has said Chandrayaan-3's successful landing on the Moon is a historic moment for humanity as «we venture into uncharted territory near the moon's South Pole». «India's Chandrayaan-3 mission successfully landed its Vikram lander module near the South Pole of the Moon.

Oil prices fell slightly in early Asian trade on Friday, on track for a weekly decline as weak manufacturing activity hurt the global demand outlook and the dollar remained buoyant. Brent crude fell 16 cents, or 0.2%, to $83.20 a barrel by 0013 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 18 cents, or 0.2%, to $78.91 a barrel. Crude prices are set to fall between 2%-3% for the week, a second consecutive week of decline. Oil settled modestly higher in the previous session after Dutch consultancy Insights Global posted data showing gasoil stocks held in independent storage in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) refining and storage hub declined by 3% in the latest week. Investor caution ahead of remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole Symposium lifted the safe-haven dollar to a 10-week high, its biggest rise in a month, as markets waited for word on how long rates would stay high.

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Aussie Broadband managing director Philip Britt has forecast further consolidation and says the telecommunications group is going after Telstra’s customers as annual net profits quadrupled to $21.7 million.

Unionized workers at a General Motors joint-venture electric vehicle battery plant in Ohio will see pay raises while they continue to negotiate a contract

Nike will start selling replicas of England goalkeeper Mary Earps’ jersey after facing a public outcry for not making them available to fans during the Women’s World Cup

Nigeria's statistics agency says the unemployment rate now stands at 4.1%

Plain Facts publishes a compilation of data-based insights, complete with easy-to-read charts, to help you delve deeper into the stories reported by Mint in the week gone by. Incessant rainfall once again is wreaking havoc in the northern part of the country, while imposition of export duty on onions has caused an uproar. Meanwhile, the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is far from fading even after nine years.

RK Singh on Thursday said a proposal on mandating the use of green hydrogen for some industries may soon be sent for the cabinet's approval. Basically that (green hydrogen consumption) mandate fixation is in process, Singh said at an event. «Most ministries want a smaller mandate to start with.

Bandhan Bank has decided to build a corporate office in Mumbai while setting up a zonal office and government business centre in New Delhi as it plans to expand beyond the eastern region where it is dominant. The private sector lender has spent about ₹160 crore to buy a commercial space in the country's financial capital to build the corporate centre which will also house its treasury, managing director Chandra Shekhar Ghosh told ET. The centre is being built on a 40,000 sq ft area in Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) and is likely to become ready in the fourth quarter of this fiscal, Ghosh said.The bank is also building a back office in Navi Mumbai in a rented 65,000 sq ft space, he said. Its New Delhi zonal office will be important for liaison with government departments for government business. Bandhan, which celebrated the completion of eight years in banking on August 23, is also on a branch expansion spree even as it is getting ready to expand digital offerings.

Roark Capital Group has won the race to acquire United States sandwich chain Subway after seeing off a late challenge from a rival bid group led by TDR Capital and Sycamore Partners.

By Nivedita Balu and Manya Saini

Stellantis NV (NYSE:STLA) announced Thursday that the automaker will be expanding its SPOTiCAR program into the United States.

Source: Binance

By Jennifer Rigby and Julie Steenhuysen

Wall Street is really suffering through the dog days of August.

European Union has proposed an investment court system to India to resolve investor-state disputes, a substantive change from its earlier proposal, as the two sides thrash out the modalities of the proposed bilateral investment protection pact. EU commissioner for trade Valdis Dombrovskis also indicated the two sides may resolve their outstanding dispute. The two are involved in a dispute over tariffs imposed by New Delhi on information and communication technology goods outside the World Trade Organization. Noting India's ambition to become a manufacturing hub and integrate itself with the global value chains which requires a lot of investment, he said: «For this investment to come, there also needs to be proper investment protection and a proper mechanism to solve disputes as they arise.» India and the EU are negotiating a trade pact, an investment protection agreement and an agreement on geographical indications. The bloc has proposed the investment court system on the lines of agreements with other countries. «We are awaiting India's proposal on this,» said Dombrovskis, who is in India for the two-day G20 trade and investment ministers meeting that began Thursday. «It's a change of EU approach instead of relying on arbitrations where sometimes it was not transparent.

By Carien du Plessis, Anait Miridzhanian and Bhargav Acharya

NEW DELHI : Leaders of Brics countries on Thursday invited six more nations to join them in the grouping’s first expansion since 2010. Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Argentina, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates will join existing members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at a briefing. The six countries are expected to become members starting 1 January.