Month: December 2020

Opening Bell: Sensex gains over 100 points, Nifty above 13,000; metals lead

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Indian equity benchmark indices opened higher on Tuesday following gains in Asian peers as sustained hopes over coronavirus vaccine further improved sentiment and Q2 GDP data reflected a recovery in the economy.

At 9:15 am, the Sensex opened 0.65 percent, or 286.11 points, higher at 44,435.83, while the Nifty50 index opened at 13,062.20, up 93.25 points, or 0.72 percent.

Broader markets outperformed the benchmarks with Nifty Smallcap100 and Nifty Midcap100 indices gaining 0.82 percent and 0.68 percent, respectively.

Among sectoral indices, Nifty Metal, Nifty Pharma and Nifty Realty gained over 1 percent followed by Nifty Auto and Nifty IT. Trading in the red were Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Private Bank.

Shree Cements, GAIL India, Hindalco Industries, Divi’s Laboratories and UltraTech Cement were the Nifty50 top gainers, while Nestle India, Mahindra & Mahindra, ONGC, HDFC and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the top index losers.

Bajaj Auto shares gained over 1 percent after the company reported a 5 percent rise in November sales at 4,22,240 units as against 4,03,223 units, YoY. Two-wheeler sales jumped 12 percent YoY.

Unichem Laboratories stock price rallied over 4 percent after the company received USFDA approval for Atenolol & Chlorthalidone tablets, a generic version of TENORETIC, used to treat hypertension and lower blood pressure.

Globally, Asian share markets opened slightly higher on Tuesday buoyed by the prospect of a COVID-19 vaccine, reversing the previous day’s dips as investors took profits at the end of a record-breaking month.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.26 percent on Tuesday after closing the month 9 percent higher, the best November since 2001. Japan’s Nikkei and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 were each 0.9 percent higher, while South Korea was up 1.4 percent.

Catch all the latest updates from the stock market here.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Benazir Bhutto’s youngest daughter makes political debut at PDM rally in Multan

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, the youngest daughter of Pakistan’s slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto, made her political debut in Multan on Monday at a rally of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), the 11-party Opposition alliance. In her speech, Aseefa called on the crowd to remember her mother’s sacrifices for democracy and urged them to support her brother Bilawal Bhutto in his fight for true democracy in the country.

Aseefa, who attended the rally on her brother’s behalf, said that the public had given its verdict and the ”selected will have to go now”.

”I have come among you today at a time when my brother, your brother, Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari is suffering from coronavirus. I hope that just like you supported the mother of democracy and the daughter of the east, you will support Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on PDM’s platform. And I promise that I will support Chairman Bilawal and you at every step,” she said. Aseefa also warned the government that if they arrested workers of the Pakistan Peoples Party, their sisters would come out to protest and save the country.

Bilawal did not attend the rally as he is isolating after testing positive for COVID-19. Bilawal is the Chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party. The PDM rally was held on Monday evening at Multan’s Ghanta Ghar Chowk after days of conflict between the city administration and the Opposition workers over having the event at a time when the government has warned against large gatherings because of a spike in COVID-19 cases in the country.

The rally was addressed by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-(F) Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz and Aseefa along with other PDM leaders.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Top stock tips by Sudarshan Sukhani, Rajat Bose, Mitessh Thakkar for Tuesday

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Indian market is likely to open on a flat note on Tuesday following mixed global cues. The SGX Nifty was trading 1.50 points or 0.01 percent lower at 12,991.50, indicating a flat start for the Sensex and Nifty50. CNBC-TV18’s in-house panel of experts has laid down a list of stocks for the investors to buy/sell in trade today.

Here are the top buy-sell calls by market experts for Tuesday:

Sudarshan Sukhani – s2analytics.com

– Buy Divi’s Labs with a stop loss of Rs 3,564, target at Rs 3,715

– Buy Escorts with a stop loss of Rs 1,374, target at Rs 1,465

– Buy HDFC Bank with a stop loss of Rs 1,412, target at Rs 1,336

– Sell Pidilite with a stop loss of Rs 1,548, target at Rs 1,442

Mitessh Thakkar – mitesshthakkar.com

– Buy Britannia with a stop loss of Rs 3,580, target at Rs 3,750

– Buy Cadila Health with a stop loss of Rs 443, target at Rs 466

– Buy Federal Bank with a stop loss of Rs 61.5, target at Rs 66

– Buy Tata Consumer with a stop loss of Rs 538, target at Rs 555

Rajat Bose – rajatkbose.com

– Buy Bharti Airtel with a stop loss below Rs 458, targets at Rs 469 and Rs 474

– Buy Bata with a stop loss below Rs 1,558, targets at Rs 1,598 and Rs 1,619

– Buy Tata Consumer with a stop loss below Rs 527.75, targets at Rs 555 and Rs 564

Also, track all live market action on CNBC-TV18 Market Blog

Disclaimer: CNBCTV18.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Indian national Ajay Sharma pleads guilty to transnational fraud scheme

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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An Indian national who runs a New Delhi-based telemarketing call center Monday pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a fraudulent scheme directed at thousands of individuals in the United States, the Department of Justice said.

Ajay Sharma, the director and owner of APS Technology, faces up to 20 years in prison, as well as forfeiture of USD 1,005,421 and a fine of up to USD 2,500,000. Sharma has been detained since his arrest in October 2018 and pleaded guilty via videoconference.

Seth D. DuCharme, the Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced the guilty plea. Four of Sharma’s co-conspirators previously pleaded guilty, and two are scheduled for trial in February 2021 before United States District Judge Sandra Feuerstein. Ajay Sharma and his crew perpetrated a sprawling, transnational fraud scheme that preyed on unsuspecting victims’ fears that they were running afoul of the law, said Acting United States Attorney DuCharme. This case makes clear that US law enforcement will not stop at our borders to locate and vigorously prosecute criminals, whether foreign or domestic, who cause financial harm to others in the United States, he said.

Federal prosecutors have alleged that Sharma was the leader and organiser of the fraud scheme. Between January and September 2018, operating from call centers in India, the defendants targeted victims in the US by falsely claiming to be employees of the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration or the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The victims were informed that they owed a sum of money to the US government or one of its agencies and that they would be arrested if the debts were not promptly paid. After the victims wired payments to bank accounts that the defendants had opened in the names of inactive and shell corporations to receive the fraud proceeds, the funds were withdrawn and laundered through additional bank accounts. The scheme is estimated to have netted over USD2 million from victims across the United States, the Department of Justice said.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Vaccines within reach as US braces for post-Thanksgiving coronavirus surge

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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After a Thanksgiving weekend when the number of people traveling through US airports reached its highest since mid-March, a top government official said on Monday some Americans could begin receiving coronavirus vaccinations before Christmas.

US Health Secretary Alex Azar said Pfizer Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine could be authorized and shipped within days of a Dec. 10 meeting of outside advisers to the Food and Drug Administration tasked with reviewing trial data and recommending whether it warrants approval.

A vaccine from Moderna Inc could follow a week later, he said, after the company announced on Monday it would apply for US and European emergency authorization. Final trial data showed the vaccine to be 94.1 percent effective at preventing COVID-19, comparable with Pfizer’s results.”So we could be seeing both of these vaccines out and getting into people’s arms before Christmas,” Azar said on CBS’ ”This Morning.”
The federal government will ship the vaccines. State governors will decide how they are distributed within their states.

The United States has reported 4.2 million new COVID-19 cases so far in November and more than 36,000 coronavirus-related deaths, according to a Reuters tally. Hospitalizations are at a pandemic high and deaths the most in six months.

THANKSGIVING SURGE

As the virus rages across the country, overwhelming hospital systems and pushing already exhausted medical staff near a breaking point, US officials pleaded with Americans to avoid holiday travel and limit social gatherings.
Many appear to have disregarded those pleas over the long Thanksgiving weekend as the Transportation Security Administration screened 1.18 million airline passengers on Sunday, the highest since mid-March.

Also Read: Moderna vaccine shows 94% efficacy against severe COVID-19, says US pharma company

That number is still about 60 percent lower than the comparable day last year when 2.88 million passengers were screened, the highest ever recorded by the agency. ”There is almost certainly is going to be an uptick (of infections) because of what has happened with the travel,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the nation’s top infectious diseases experts, told ABC’s ”This Week” program on Sunday.

More than 93,000 Americans are currently sick enough with COVID-19 to require hospitalization. Experts worry that number will keep rising as the weather gets colder and people gather indoors more often. Increases in hospitalizations tend to lag spikes in new cases by a few weeks.

”Hospital capacity is the top concern,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters on Monday. He ordered all elective surgeries to cease in one county and urged hospitals state-wide to again ready their plans to increase capacity by 50 percent if necessary or set up and staff field hospitals.
With the latest wave of the virus spiking across the country and no federal blueprint to combat it, 25 states have issued new or revamped restrictions on businesses, schools and social life in an attempt to curb the spread.

In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy said he was re-tightening the limit on outdoor gatherings to 25 people, effective Dec. 7, with exceptions for funerals, memorials and weddings. Religious and political activities such as protests are also exempt. Murphy, who has brought back a series of COVID-19 restrictions in recent weeks, also said all indoor youth and adult sports will be put on hold from Dec. 5 through Jan. 2, 2021, also with exemptions.

”As you start to make your holiday plans, please recognize that the gathering limits are back to what they were in May and June – when we all came together and crushed the curve as much as any state in the nation,” he wrote on Twitter. ”Keep gatherings as small as possible.”

Also Read: When and which COVID-19 vaccines are likely to be available in Asia

But in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio reversed course on Sunday, announcing that public schools would start to reopen for in-class instruction five days a week for students who want to attend full time. Previously, students were offered a mix of online and in-person instruction. Health officials found the rate of people testing positive in public schools to be significantly lower than in the city and state. ”The schools are some of the safest places to be right now in New York City,” de Blasio told CNN.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Coronavirus News December 1 Highlights: DRL starts Sputnik V vaccine trials; Lewis Hamilton tests positive

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Coronavirus News December 1 Highlights: The number of COVID-19 cases reported in India in a span of 24 hours dropped below 40,000 for the seventh time this month, taking the infection tally to 94.31 lakh, while the recoveries surged to 88,47,600, according to the Union Health Ministry’s data updated on Monday.

The total coronavirus cases mounted to 94,31,691 with 38,772 new infections, while the death count climbed to 1,37,139 after 443 more fatalities were reported, the data updated at 8 am showed.

Meanwhile, Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has directed a price cut for the RT-PCR tests for COVID-19. Though these tests are being conducted free of cost in government hospitals, However, people have to spend Rs 2,400 for the RT-PCR test at private labs. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain in reply to the chief minister’s tweet said orders for this will be issued immediately.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Agriculture minister invites leaders of farmer unions for talks on Tuesday

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has invited leaders of farmer unions, protesting the three central farm reform laws, for talks on Tuesday, instead of December 3, citing the COVID-19 pandemic and cold. Thousands of farmers stayed put at various Delhi border points for the fifth consecutive day on Monday protesting the new farm laws, which they fear will dismantle the minimum support price system and corporatise farming.

”Keeping in view the cold and COVID-19, we have invited leaders of farmer unions for discussion much before the scheduled December 3 meeting,” Tomar told PTI. Now, the meeting has been called at 3 pm on December 1 at Vigyan Bhawan in the national capital, he said, adding those leaders who were present in the meeting held on November 13 have been invited this time.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal has also written to representatives of 32 farmer unions, including the Krantikari Kisan Union, Jammuhari Kisan Sabha, Bhartiya Kisan Sabha (Dakauda), Kul Hind Kisan Sabha, Kriti Kisan Union and Punjab Kisan Union, inviting them for discussion on December 1.

Also Read: Here’s a ground report from Delhi-Haryana-Singhu border on Day 5 of protests

The November 13 meeting was inconclusive and the Union Agriculture Ministry had invited them for a second round of discussion on December 3 to resolve their concerns about new farm laws.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

US arms sales to UAE draw fire from 29 rights groups

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Twenty-nine arms control and human rights organizations have signed a letter opposing the sale of USD 23 billion worth of missiles, fighter jets and drones to the United Arab Emirates and asking the US Congress to block the deal. ”The hope is to stop these sales altogether,” said Seth Binder, advocacy officer at the Project on Middle East Democracy, who spearheaded the effort. ”But if that is not possible in the short term, this sends an important signal to the incoming Biden administration that there is a diverse group of organizations that oppose delivery of these weapons.”

Three US senators proposed legislation to halt the sale, which includes drones from privately held General Atomics, Lockheed Martin Corp F-35s and missiles made by Raytheon, setting up a showdown with President Donald Trump just weeks before he is due to leave office.

US law covering major arms deals allows senators to force votes on resolutions of disapproval. However, to go into effect the resolutions must pass the Republican-led Senate, which rarely breaks with Trump. They also must pass the Democratic-led House of Representatives.

The letter, which will be sent to lawmakers and the US State Department, said, ”The planned arms sales to the UAE, a party to the conflicts in Yemen and Libya, would fuel continued civilian harm and further exacerbate these humanitarian crises.”

Signatories to the letter include human rights organizations from the region, including the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) and Mwatana for Human Rights.

The UAE embassy in Washington told Reuters in a statement, ”Aligned closely with US interests and values, the UAE’s highly capable military is a forceful deterrent to aggression and an effective response to violent extremism.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow