The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of India’s plastic pipes industry is anticipated to accelerate to around 14 per cent over financial years 2024-27, to touch Rs 80,500 crore by FY27, driven by strong demand from housing, irrigation, water supply, and sanitation, according to a report released on Thursday.

Additionally, robust replacement demand will be a key growth driver, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd’s report states.

The plastic pipes industry had clocked a 10 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over FY14-24, reaching Rs 54,100 crore, driven by plumbing and irrigation, which accounted for 84 per cent of total applications. CPVC, HDPE, UPVC, and PPR pipes reported strong growth, with PVC maintaining the largest market share.

Swedish fashion giant H&M on Thursday posted weaker results for its quarter ending May 31 (Q2), with net sales falling to SEK (Swedish Krona) 56,714 million from SEK 59,605 million in the same period a year earlier.

The decline was primarily due to currency translation effects, as a stronger Swedish krona impacted earnings despite a modest 1 per cent growth in sales in local currencies.

According to H&M, the negative currency impact shaved off around 6 percentage points from reported net sales.

Private equity (PE) investment in India’s office real estate sector in the first half this year reflected measured optimism, driven by asset quality, prime locations and long-term tenancy visibility, according to a report on Thursday.

PE investments into Indian real estate sector stood at $1.7 billion, spread across 12 deals in the April-June period.

While overall capital deployment across real estate declined due to global macroeconomic pressures, the office segment stood out with $706 million invested across three transactions in H1 2025, marking a 22 per cent increase from $579 million in H1 2024, according to the report by Knight Frank India.

Rather than broad-based investment, this growth was fuelled by strategic allocations into high-quality, Grade-A assets in core markets.

Hyundai Motor Group generated the largest economic value among major South Korean conglomerates in 2024, contributing more to the national economy than any other business group, industry data showed on Thursday.

The automotive group's total economic contribution was tallied at 359.4 trillion won ($264 billion) last year, up 6.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from CEO Score, reports news agency.

The figure, which factors in the combined value of payments to employees, partner firms and taxes, among others, is based on the business reports of the top 100 non-financial and non-state-run companies in terms of sales.

The group outpaced other major domestic conglomerates, with the closest competitor posting 247.1 trillion won in total economic contributions.

Indian PC (excluding tablet) shipments grew 13 per cent (year-on-year) in the January-March period (Q1) this year, reaching 3.3 million units, according to a new report.

The growth was driven by a 21 per cent increase in notebook shipments to 2.4 million units, according to a report by Canalys (now part of Omdia).

Notebooks remain the cornerstone of India’s digital acceleration, fuelled by the rise of hybrid workstyles and productivity needs for both consumers and businesses.

Elsewhere, Indian tablet shipments faced a significant annual decline of 24 per cent to 1.0 million units. The overall PC market is projected to grow 6 per cent in 2025, surpassing 15 million units, while tablet shipments are expected to contract by 8 per cent.

The Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI), has extended the deadline for submitting bids in the ongoing tender pertaining to the production and supply of green ammonia to June 30, 2025, it was announced on Wednesday.

The tender was issued on June 7 and the last date for bid submission fixed earlier was June 26.

The tender calls for the production and supply of 724,000 tonnes of green ammonia annually across 13 fertiliser plants, under the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition (SIGHT) scheme. The green ammonia is being procured with the aim of reducing the country’s carbon footprint in the production of fertilisers.

SECI, a Navratna Central Public Sector Undertaking under the administrative control of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), will anchor demand aggregation and sign long-term offtake agreements, providing producers with market certainty over a 10-year contract period.

Hyundai Motor, Jaguar Landrover Korea and two other companies will voluntarily recall more than 14,000 vehicles to address faulty components, the transport ministry said on Wednesday.

The four companies, including trading firm GS Global Corp. and GM Asia-Pacific Regional Headquarters, the South Korean subsidiary of General Motors Co., are recalling a combined 14,708 units across 19 different models, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a press release, reports news agency.

Vehicle owners can check whether their vehicles are subject to the recall by visiting the government website at www.car.go.kr or calling 080-357-2500, the ministry said.

In May, Kia Corp., BMW Korea and Hyundai Motor Co. voluntarily recalled over 16,000 vehicles due to manufacturing defects, the transport ministry said.

Manufacturers of smart electric meters in Indian will see their revenue grow 20 per cent, akin to fiscal 2025, and touch around Rs 9,000 crore this fiscal (FY26), a report showed on Tuesday.

According to Crisil, the key catalyst here is the resolution of initial implementation constraints seen under the Smart Meter National Programme (SMNP), through which the government aims to replace 25 crore conventional electricity meters with prepaid smart electric meters.

Launched in 2017, the SMNP provides a Rs 90,000 crore revenue opportunity for the industry. Under the programme, each state distribution company (discom) awards contracts for installing smart electric meters to an Advanced Metering Infrastructure Service Provider (AMISP), which procures them from smart electric meter manufacturers.

South Korea's consumer sentiment rose to a four-year high in June, driven by eased political uncertainties and optimism over the government's supplementary budget and other supportive measures, the central bank said on Tuesday.

The composite consumer sentiment index (CCSI) stood at 108.7 this month, up 6.9 points from May, according to a survey conducted by the Bank of Korea (BOK), reports news agency.

It marked the highest level since June 2021, when the index reached 111.1.

Consumer sentiment had plunged to below 90 in December following former President Yoon Suk Yeol's imposition of martial law and remained in the 90-range before climbing above 100 in May.

Samsung Electronics said on Tuesday it will hold its next 'Galaxy Unpacked' event in New York next month to unveil the latest Galaxy Z series smartphones featuring advanced artificial intelligence (AI) and an ultra-slim foldable design.

The tech giant announced that the next-generation Galaxy devices are being reimagined around a new AI-powered interface, supported by breakthrough hardware built to unlock their full potential. This future is already unfolding, and the best of Galaxy AI and Samsung craftsmanship is about to be unveiled, the company said in a statement.

"No longer just a collection of apps and tools, the smartphone is evolving into a smart companion that understands user intent and responds in real time," Samsung Electronics said.

The company is expected to unveil the latest models in its foldable lineup -- the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7.