Gold futures with August expiry on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) gained around Rs 2,288 per 10 grams, or nearly 2%, hitting the day’s high at Rs 1,48,046 per 10 grams. The contracts with October expiry comfortably soared above Rs 1.5 lakh per 10 grams.

Gold hit its highest level since June 23 in the international market, with spot gold rising more than 1% on Friday morning. This came as weaker-than-expected nonfarm payrolls and private payrolls data tempered concerns around inflation and higher-for-longer interest rates.

US job growth slowed sharply in June and payroll gains for the prior two months were revised lower, data released on Thursday showed, pointing to a cooling labour market and prompting financial markets to reduce expectations for a near-term rate hike. The unemployment rate dropped to 4.2% last month from 4.3% in May as workers left the labour force, pushing the participation rate to its lowest level in more than five years.

Also read: Gold price at Rs 1.47 lakh/10g; silver gains Rs 5,000/kg as US jobs data cools inflation worries. What are experts saying?

“The figures challenged the narrative that the Fed remains on track to hike in the second half of this year,” Reuters quoted Westpac analysts as saying in a research report. The tepid jobs data doused traders’ expectations of an imminent rate hike and raised the odds that the Fed will keep rates on hold until October.Traders are now pricing in a 46.8% probability that the U.S. central bank will keep rates steady at its meeting on September 15 to 16, compared to a 35.8% chance a day earlier, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

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Notably, this boosted gold prices today as higher interest rates typically weigh on non-yielding gold, as they make interest bearing assets more attractive. Silver prices also sharply gained today, rising more than 2% to near its highest level in more than a week.
Also read: Jewellers may be louped in for idle gold mobilisation

Why are gold financier stocks rising today?

Manappuram Finance, Muthoot Finance and IIFL Finance offer loans to its customers with gold as collateral. Rising gold prices will increase the value of the pledged collateral. Since gold loans are sanctioned based on the per-gram valuation of gold, higher prices will require borrowers to pledge lesser jewellery to access the same loan amount.

What lies ahead?

According to Manoj Kumar Jain of Prithvi Finmart, gold and silver prices are expected to remain volatile in Friday’s session amid fluctuations in crude oil prices, the dollar index and U.S. bond yields.On the MCX, Jain said gold has support at Rs 1,44,400-Rs 1,43,350. The yellow metal will likely find resistance at Rs 1,47,100-Rs 1,48,800 levels, according to the analyst.

(With inputs from agencies)

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

Dave Portnoy says his latest Bitcoin investment has become an expensive lesson in timing, with the Barstool Sports founder revealing he is down millions but still has no plans to sell despite the cryptocurrency’s sharp decline.

Dave Portnoy opens up about his costly Bitcoin investment, revealing he’s down millions while explaining why he’s continuing to hold. (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC / Getty Images)

Barstool Sports founder and President Dave Portnoy joined FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on “Varney & Co.” to discuss politics, sports and cryptocurrency, where he acknowledged buying Bitcoin near its recent highs and explained why he is continuing to hold the asset through the downturn.

“Yeah, I got regrets, I bought the thing at $100,000,” Portnoy said. “There’s nothing I’ve been wrong about more than Bitcoin. Every time I sell it, it goes nuclear. Every time I buy it, it tanks.”

Even with the losses piling up, Portnoy said he is staying invested because he believes history has repeatedly worked against him whenever he exits the market. “I’m holding, I’ll hold this thing down to zero,” he said. 

“I’m losing millions to it,” he continued, while acknowledging that selling now would likely mean watching it rebound without him.

GOP LAWMAKER UNVEILS BILL TO CODIFY A STRATEGIC BITCOIN RESERVE

Portnoy expanded on his complicated history with Bitcoin during a recent appearance on Anthony Pompliano’s “The Pomp Podcast.” He recalled first buying roughly $2 million worth of Bitcoin when it traded around $11,000 after a conversation with Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, only to sell almost immediately because he did not understand their long-term thesis. Looking back, Portnoy said the decision proved costly as Bitcoin quickly surged, eventually convincing him to re-enter the market at much higher prices.

On the podcast, Portnoy said he still struggles to predict the cryptocurrency’s moves despite years of following it closely. “I don’t know what the hell’s going on with it,” he said when discussing where Bitcoin could go next, adding that he intends to keep holding his position even if it continues to fall.

TRUMP FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REVEALS MORE THAN $1B IN CRYPTO INCOME DURING FIRST YEAR BACK IN OFFICE

Portnoy’s comments underscore the volatility that continues to define the cryptocurrency market, even for high-profile investors who have experienced both significant gains and steep losses.

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LONDON — Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are expected to visit the United Kingdom in the coming weeks with their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, but a royal commentator is claiming the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are approaching the trip with fundamentally different motivations, with Harry seeking family connection and Meghan pursuing what one source described as a strategically calculated return to royal visibility.

The diverging goals, as described by royal commentator Mark Dolan during an appearance on Matt Wilkinson’s “The Royal Exclusive” podcast, paint a picture of a couple united in their travel plans but reportedly divided in what each hopes to take away from a homecoming that remains complicated by unresolved security disputes, a fractured relationship with the senior royal family and questions about the Duchess’s fading commercial profile in the United States.

“I think that Harry wants to come back to the UK because he misses his family,” Dolan said on the podcast. “He misses his royal activities, and he misses England, you know, he misses the UK, and he wants his grandkids to spend time with their grandfather.”

Dolan’s assessment of Meghan’s motivations was considerably more pointed.

“I believe that Meghan is pathologically transactional, and so I think this trip is strategic for her,” he said, adding that Markle is seeking to revive her public standing at a moment when her influence in the American market has become harder to leverage.

Dolan further characterized the different emotional registers with which each Sussex approaches the prospect of returning to Britain, describing a fundamental tension he sees running through the marriage.

“I think it’s emotional and nostalgic for Harry, which I think is, by the way, a big tension within the marriage,” Dolan said. “I think the two people want very different things in terms of the UK.”

He described Meghan’s anticipated return as an opportunity to reclaim a tier of public identity that her years in California have not fully replicated.

“I think she sees it as a chance to recalibrate those royal credentials, to go back to the royal well so she can be ‘Duchess’ again,” Dolan said.

The Sussexes have not publicly confirmed the specific date of their anticipated visit, and a spokesperson for the couple did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Dolan’s characterization of their respective motivations.

The planned trip comes in the context of a broader dispute about security that has dominated much of the public conversation about Harry’s relationship with the United Kingdom since he and Meghan relocated to California in 2020. Harry has repeatedly sought taxpayer-funded police protection when visiting Britain, arguing that the risks to his family are real and that private security operatives lack the legal authority, powers and institutional coordination of government-assigned officers. The Royal and VIP Executive Committee, known as RAVEC, the body that determines who receives protection from the Metropolitan Police, has declined to provide automatic round-the-clock protection for Harry and his family on the grounds that his status as a non-working royal based overseas places him outside the threshold for such coverage.

Harry announced his intention to visit the UK with his family, framing the trip around the one-year countdown to the 2027 Invictus Games in Birmingham. However, after discovering he would not receive the taxpayer-funded police protection he sought, his camp walked back a portion of the original announcement, prompting observers to suggest he had moved too quickly before the security arrangements were confirmed. Royal editor Russell Myers described the sequence as Harry having “jumped the gun” in assuming the security guarantee was in place before any firm commitment had been made.

The security dispute carried a layer of complexity identified by Dolan on the podcast. He cited comments from Ken Wharfe, Princess Diana’s former chief bodyguard, who suggested the Sussexes’ approach to security demands serves a secondary purpose beyond physical safety.

“He said there’s no way the U.K. authorities or the King would allow Harry to come to harm while he’s in Britain,” Dolan said, relaying Wharfe’s view that the security dispute functions partly as a marker of VIP status rather than being driven entirely by genuine threat assessment.

Whether that characterization is accurate or simply reflects the increasingly polarized landscape of royal commentary surrounding the Sussexes is difficult to assess independently. What is clear is that Harry’s argument for protection is grounded in documented threats and a physical infrastructure of security that the private sector, however well-resourced, cannot entirely replicate in the United Kingdom’s legal framework. A specific incident cited in reporting about an earlier visit illustrated the point: Harry’s private security team identified what they believed to be a stalker in a public gallery during court proceedings but had no legal power to intervene because the space was a public building.

King Charles, who is believed to maintain a desire for his grandchildren Archie and Lilibet to visit Britain and spend time with the royal family despite the ongoing estrangement, has reportedly offered the Sussex family accommodation during any planned visit, understood to be at Buckingham Palace or an associated royal residence. However, control over security decisions does not rest with the King but with RAVEC, meaning Charles’s willingness to host his son’s family does not automatically resolve the practical protection question that has derailed previous visit planning.

The Sussexes’ relationship with the senior royal family has been strained since their departure from frontline royal duties in early 2020, and a series of subsequent interviews, memoirs and documentary projects from both Harry and Meghan have deepened the rift. Whether a visit primarily motivated, on Harry’s side at least, by a desire to reconnect with family can survive the accumulated weight of those years without triggering fresh controversy is a question no source in the couple’s orbit or the palace has chosen to address directly.

For now, the timeline for any Sussex visit to Britain remains unconfirmed, with the coming weeks the only window publicly referenced by those familiar with the plans.

This article was written by

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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha’s Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.

Ford is turning one of Washington, D.C.’s busiest transit hubs into a showcase of American industry, innovation and horsepower for the nation’s 250th birthday.

The automaker has opened “Driving America Forward,” a free Union Station exhibit that traces Ford’s 123-year impact on American life — from the factory floor and World War II to farms, racetracks and pop culture.

The exhibit runs July 1 through July 14 as millions of visitors travel through the nation’s capital for Fourth of July celebrations.

FORD REHIRES EXPERIENCED ENGINEERS AFTER AI MISSES THE MARK

Historic Ford vehicles are displayed throughout Union Station’s Main Hall for the automaker’s “Driving America Forward” exhibit. (Ford Motor Company)

Ted Ryan, Ford’s heritage and brand manager, told FOX Business that Union Station was selected because of its constant crowds and dramatic architecture.

“Union Station was chosen because it’s so incredibly visited,” Ryan said. “… The setting is just spectacular — the marble floor, the vaulted ceiling. It’s a beautiful venue to display some absolutely amazing cars.”

The goal, Ryan said, is for visitors to leave with a better understanding of Ford’s role beyond the assembly line.

FORD TEAMS UP WITH OUTDOOR OUTFITTER FILSON TO LAUNCH NEW BRONCO SUV

“What we want people to walk away saying is, ‘Oh my gosh, I didn’t know Ford did that,’” Ryan said.

The exhibit features a range of vehicles, including the last Model T ever built. Ryan said the car, introduced in 1908, transformed transportation and at one point accounted for 57% of all cars in the world.

Other vehicles on display include a 1928 Model A Roadster, a 1934 Flatbed Ford V8 pickup loaned by Jay Leno, a 1941 Ford GP, a 1951 Ford tractor, a 1954 F-100, a 1964 Mustang used in the New York World’s Fair ride, a 1956 Ford Thunderbird, among others.

FORD SEEKS TRUMP ALUMINUM TARIFF RELIEF AFTER FIRES AT MAJOR US FACTORY, REPORT SAYS

A 1934 Flathead Ford V-8 pickup is displayed inside Ford’s “Driving America Forward” exhibit at Union Station in Washington, D.C. (Ford Motor Company)

Ryan said the lineup was chosen to show Ford’s reach beyond passenger cars — from farms and factories to battlefields and racetracks.

Archival displays also spotlight lesser-known Ford innovations, including early mail-sorting technology, barcode and ZIP code readers, and the company’s role in helping build Mission Control in Houston for the Apollo program.

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“It’s free and open to the public,” Ryan said. “Come and enjoy the air conditioning at Union Station and enjoy looking at some absolutely stunning cars.”

TUCSON, Ariz. — A 42-year-old California man has pleaded guilty to sending fraudulent ransom demands to the family of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, who has been missing from her Tucson, Arizona, home since February 1, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.

Derrick Callella, of California, entered guilty pleas to two counts of harassment using a telecommunication device, admitting in court that he called and sent text messages to members of the Guthrie family on February 4, demanding a transfer of bitcoin in exchange for Nancy Guthrie’s return. He faces up to two years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 at his sentencing, which has been scheduled for September.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona confirmed the plea and released details of what Callella admitted to in court.

“Callella acknowledged that he knew an earlier ransom demand had been made,” the prosecutor’s office said in its announcement. “Callella also admitted that his actions were meant to harass the family by seeking information about the investigation into the missing person’s disappearance.”

That framing, which describes Callella’s motivation as twofold, obtaining information and harassing the family, illustrates the particular cruelty of fake ransom demands in a case already defined by genuine anguish. By contacting the Guthrie family directly and demanding cryptocurrency within days of Nancy’s disappearance, Callella added a layer of false urgency and false hope to a family already under extraordinary strain, while simultaneously seeking to extract details about an active federal investigation.

Callella is not the only person arrested in connection with fraudulent communications in the case. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos confirmed that multiple individuals had been taken into custody following fake ransom note submissions, speaking publicly about the problem during a radio appearance on Tucson’s 1030 KVOI AM.

“I think the FBI has done a number of arrests for false or fake ransom notes,” Nanos told host Bill Buckmaster. “It is a shame that these types of events occur. People have great interest and that’s good because it helps us but then it gets really abused. People who call in fake ransom notes, people who claim for the sake of media and the family, they get out and disturb, in this case, an entire neighbourhood.”

The Callella plea represents the first confirmed criminal conviction arising from the wave of fraudulent communications that has complicated the Guthrie investigation since its earliest days. Callella had initially pleaded not guilty to the charges following his arrest in early February, shortly after FBI special agent Heith Janke disclosed at a February 5 news conference that someone had been taken into custody for sending what Janke described as an “imposter ransom demand.” The guilty plea this week resolves that case ahead of a September sentencing hearing.

The plea comes at a moment of significant confusion about the broader landscape of ransom communications in the Guthrie case. An anonymous FBI official told Reuters earlier this week that all three of the most widely reported ransom notes had been assessed as not credible, a characterization that prompted swift pushback from other law enforcement sources. The FBI’s Phoenix field office then issued a clarifying statement acknowledging that some communications had been dismissed as fraudulent while others remained under active investigation.

“The FBI and its task force partners have received several ransom notes over the course of this investigation,” the Phoenix FBI office said in a social media statement. “Some have been deemed to be extortion attempts without legitimacy. Other ransom demands may potentially be legitimate and are still being investigated as such. This case continues to be investigated as a kidnapping for ransom case.”

That clarification, which maintained the investigation’s characterization as a kidnapping for ransom case while distinguishing between fake notes and potentially genuine ones, added nuance to what had briefly appeared to be a complete dismissal of all ransom communications. Callella’s guilty plea fits squarely into the category the FBI described as an extortion attempt without legitimacy, a deliberate fraud by someone seeking to exploit a family’s anguish rather than someone with genuine knowledge of Nancy Guthrie’s whereabouts.

Savannah Guthrie had addressed the problem of fake ransom notes publicly months ago, speaking on “Today” before her return to full-time presenting duties after a period of leave following her mother’s disappearance. Her comments at the time struck a careful balance between acknowledging the harm such notes cause and maintaining hope about communications she believed were genuine.

“There are a lot of different notes, I think, that came,” Savannah Guthrie said on air in March. “I think most of them, it’s my understanding, are not real. I didn’t see them. But the person that would send a fake ransom note really has to look deeply at themselves to a family in pain.”

She added a distinction that the FBI’s subsequent investigation has helped clarify: “But I believe the two notes that we received that we responded to, I tend to believe those are real.”

The Callella case underscores how high-profile missing persons investigations, particularly those involving well-known public figures, can attract opportunistic individuals who either seek to profit from the situation or simply exploit it for information or attention. Federal authorities have made clear they are treating any fraudulent interference in the Guthrie investigation seriously, and Thursday’s guilty plea signals that such conduct carries real criminal consequences rather than merely drawing a brief investigation.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department, which is leading the broader investigation of Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance alongside the FBI, has confirmed that every tip and lead continues to be taken seriously and forwarded to detectives working the case. No suspects or persons of interest have been publicly named in connection with her actual disappearance, which now stretches more than five months without a confirmed resolution. The FBI’s reward of $100,000 for information leading to Guthrie’s location or to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for her disappearance remains active, as does the Guthrie family’s own separately offered reward of $1 million.

Hindustan Zinc shares jumped over 3% to trade at Rs 544.80 apiece on NSE on Friday morning. This is the highest level seen by the stock in more than a week.

The US dollar slipped towards what may be its biggest weekly loss since April on Friday after weaker-than-expected nonfarm payrolls and private payrolls data tempered concerns around inflation and higher-for-longer interest rates. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, was roughly 0.2% lower at 100.70 after a 0.5% dip on Thursday. It is now down 0.6% for the week, the biggest weekly drop since early April.

A weaker dollar supports metal prices, boosting metal stocks. As a result, the sharp surge in Hindustan Zinc’s share price today comes amid an overall uptrend in metal stocks, tracking the drop in the dollar’s strength. The Nifty Metal index gained around 1% to 12,605.80, as seen at around 11 am.

As a result of the cooling expectations of the Fed’s rate hike, silver prices surged. Silver futures with September expiry on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) jumped nearly Rs 5,000 per kilogram (over 2%) to cross Rs 2.38 lakh per kilogram.

Silver futures with December expiry meanwhile gained 2.5% to Rs 2,44,678 per kg. Hindustan Zinc is India’s largest producer of zinc, lead, and silver. The company operates fully integrated mining and smelting facilities across Rajasthan and Uttarakhand. It accounts for nearly 80% of India’s primary zinc production and is among the world’s top 10 silver producers. The company’s operations include underground mines, captive power plants, and smelting facilities, ensuring self-sufficiency in raw materials and energy.

Hindustan Zinc’s Q1 business update

Hindustan Zinc on Thursday released its provisional business update for the April-June quarter of FY27. The Vedanta Group company reported its highest-ever first quarter mined metal production for the fifth consecutive year at 268 kt, driven mainly by better grades.

Its saleable metal output increased 4% to 260 kilo tonnes, while refined zinc output increased 6% to 213 kt during the quarter under review.

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Also Read | Technology to be central to Hindustan Zinc’s next phase of growth
Hindustan Zinc’s silver output, however, declined 0.4% to 149 tonnes during the first quarter of FY27. Wind power meanwhile fell 1% to 133 million units during the quarter.

Hindustan Zinc share price

Hindustan Zinc shares have gained more than 4% in one week but declined around 12% in one month. The stock has overall gained 21% in one year.In the longer term, the shares of Hindustan Zinc have delivered 74% returns over three years and 59% in five years. The company currently has a market capitalisation of nearly Rs 2.28 lakh crore.

Also Read | Govt lines up PSU stake sales to cushion budget hit from oil; LIC, Hindustan Zinc among 8 companies in focus

(With inputs from agencies)

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

This article was written by

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Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have no stock, option or similar derivative position in any of the companies mentioned, and no plans to initiate any such positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

Seeking Alpha’s Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.