Category: Business & Economy News

Sensex Jumps Over 200 Points in Early Trade; Nifty Tops 14,750; Axis Bank Top Gainer

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Equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 200 points in the opening session on Wednesday tracking gains in index majors Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank, despite weak trend in global markets. The 30-share BSE index was trading 207 points or 0.42 per cent higher at 49,958.41.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty was quoting 69.35 points or 0.47 per cent up at 14,777.15. Axis Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 2 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, SBI, Reliance Industries, ONGC and UltraTech Cement.

On the other hand, TCS, PowerGrid, Infosys, HUL and Tech Mahindra were among the laggards. In the previous session, Sensex ended 7.09 points or 0.01 per cent higher at 49,751.41, and Nifty settled 32.10 points or 0.22 per cent up at 14,707.80.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,569.04 crore on Tuesday, as per exchange data. Domestic equities look to be good at the moment despite mixed cues from Asian markets, said Binod Modi Head-Strategy at Reliance Securities.

“FIIs turning net sellers for last two days can be a reason to worry in the near term. However, we continue to believe that FIIs flow should be favourable in the medium to long-term perspective as underlying strength of Indian equities remains intact,” he added. US equities witnessed sharp reversal from initial losses and finished mostly higher as Fed Chairman Jerome Powell continued to sound dovish in his testimony.

Powell vowed to keep monetary policy accommodative and gave no indication that rising bond yields or possibility of higher inflation would make the Federal Reserve begin reining in its efforts to support the economy, Modi noted. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo were trading on a negative note in mid-session deals.

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.56 per cent lower at USD 64.12 per barrel.



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British Fund Industry Warns Companies On Ethnic Diversity

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LONDON: Britain’s investment industry trade body has warned companies they must show progress on boardroom ethnic diversity or risk pushback at their 2021 annual general meetings.

The call from the Investment Association, whose members manage 7.7 trillion pounds ($9.88 trillion) and own around a third of British companies, aims to spur greater action to meet the targets set by Britain’s Parker Review into the issue.

Under the targets, FTSE 100 companies would aim to have at least one ethnic minority board member by 2021, with every FTSE 250 company following by 2024.

Those that fail to disclose either the ethnic make-up of their board or a plan to have at least one ethnic minority member by 2021 would be flagged as a company of concern by the IA’s corporate governance team, it said in a statement.

“The UK’s boardrooms need to reflect the diversity of modern-day Britain,” said Andrew Ninian, Director for Stewardship and Corporate Governance at the Investment Association.

“With three-quarters of FTSE 100 companies failing to report the ethnic make-up of their boards in last year’s AGM season, investors are now calling on companies to take decisive action to meet the Parker Review targets.”

While the IA does not advise investors on how to vote, IVIS, the IA’s Institutional Voting Information Service, instead flags topics of concern at companies to the pension schemes and others that pay for the service.

A ‘Blue Top’ assessment indicates there are no areas of major concern; an ‘Amber Top’ highlights a significant issue to be considered; and a ‘Red Top’ flags a topic of major concern. Breaches of the ethnic guidelines will face an ‘Amber Top’.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor



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USPS Selects Oshkosh Defense To Build Greener Mail Truck

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WASHINGTON: The United States Post Office said Tuesday that it has chosen Oshkosh Defense to build its next-generation mail-delivery vehicle, part of an effort to make the USPS more environmentally friendly by switching a portion of its huge fleet to electric vehicles.

Oshkosh Defense, a division of Wisconsin-based Oshkosh Corp., will assemble 50,000 to 165,000 of the new Next Generation Delivery Vehicles at its existing U.S. manufacturing facilities. It will get an initial $482 million toward retooling and building out its factory.

USPS described the deal as the first part of a multibillion-dollar 10-year effort to replace its delivery vehicle fleet.

The choice of Wisconsin-based Oshkosh is a big miss for Ohio-based electric vehicle startup Workhorse Group, which put in an all-electric bid for the vehicles. Shares of Workhorse fell more than 47% Tuesday.

The postal service last updated its mail-delivery trucks 30 years ago, and there have been major changes in the service’s operations since then. Traditional mail volumes have declined, while the service now delivers millions of packages from online retailers like Amazon that did not exist when the previous mail vehicle was introduced.

The new vehicles will have more room for packages, and will be updated with modern safety and driveability standards like cameras, airbags and collision avoidance systems. The vehicles will also be a combination of electric and gasoline powered, but the gasoline-powered new vehicles will have the ability to be retrofitted with new electric systems in the future.

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India’s Exports to China Up 16.15% to $20.87 Billion in 2020

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India’s exports to China has increased by 16.15 per cent to USD 20.87 billion in 2020 from USD 17.9 billion in the previous year on account of healthy growth in the shipments of ores, iron and steel, aluminum and copper, according to the data of the commerce ministry. Trade deficit with China has declined 19.39 per cent from USD 56.95 billion in 2019 to USD 45.91 billion in 2020 as the country’s imports from the neighbouring country contracted 10.87 per cent to USD 66.78 billion from USD 74.92 billion in 2019, the data showed.

The bilateral trade in 2020 decreased by 5.64 per cent to 87.65 billion compared to USD 92.89 billion in the previous year. In the agriculture sector, the main export commodities which recorded healthy growth includes cane sugar, soybean oil, and vegetables fats and oils.

However, the exports of mangoes, fish oil, tea, and fresh grapes declined. Commenting on these numbers, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President S K Saraf said that this is a positive sign and it reflects increasing competitiveness of domestic exporters.

Imports of goods including electrical machinery and equipment, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances, plastics and related articles, articles of iron and steel, furniture, fertilizers, vehicle parts and accessories, toys and sports equipment, inorganic chemicals and ceramic products have recorded a decline.



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WeWork Co-founder Neumann Nears Settlement With SoftBank – Source

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WeWork co-founder and former Chief Executive Adam Neumann is nearing a settlement with SoftBank Group Corp that could include a nearly $500 million cut in his payout from the office space-sharing company’s new owner, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The settlement would put to rest a prolonged legal battle between Neumann and Softbank, which dates back to 2019 when WeWork’s IPO plans fell apart.

It would also clear the decks for WeWork as it pursues a talks to go public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).

SoftBank had agreed in October 2019 to purchase around $3 billion in WeWork stock belonging to Neumann as well current and former WeWork employees. SoftBank later contested its obligation to purchase the shares.

Under the new proposed terms, SoftBank would purchase around half the shares it had originally agreed to buy, the source said, requesting anonymity as the matter is private.

SoftBank declined to comment. WeWork was not immediately available for comment. The talks were reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal.

SoftBank, which poured more than $13.5 billion into WeWork, was pulled into a legal dispute with directors at WeWork after backing out of a $3 billion tender offer agreed when it bailed out the office-sharing firm following a flopped IPO attempt.

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Johnson & Johnson Says Can Provide 20M US Doses

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Washington (AP) Drugmaker Johnson & Johnson says it will be able to provide 20 million US doses of its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine by the end of March, assuming it gets the greenlight from federal regulators. J&J disclosed the figure in written testimony ahead of a Congressional hearing on Tuesday looking at the country’s vaccine supply. White House officials cautioned last week that initial supplies of J&J’s vaccine would be limited.

The company reiterated that it will have capacity to provide 100 million vaccine doses to the US by the end of June. That supply will help government officials reach the goal of having enough injections to vaccinate most adult Americans later this year. On a global scale the company aims to produce 1 billion doses this year. US health regulators are still reviewing the safety and effectiveness of the shot and a decision to allow its emergency use is expected later this week. J&J’s vaccine would be the first in the US that requires only a single shot.

Currently available vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna require two doses spaced several weeks apart. Executives from both companies and two other vaccine makers will also testify at Tuesday’s hearing. (AP) .



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Exclusive: Discount Retailer Dollar General Takes Steps To Find Possible CEO Successor – Sources

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Discount chain Dollar General Corp, one of the few U.S. retailers thriving during the COVID-19 pandemic, is taking steps to find a potential successor to Chief Executive Todd Vasos, people familiar with the matter said on Monday.

While no decision has been made about Vasos stepping down, Dollar General has started conversations with headhunting firms and is considering candidates, the sources said.

Dollar General has been looking within its ranks and will assess the performance of its top executives against those at rival companies, the sources said. Dollar General Chief Operating Officer Jeff Owen is under consideration, one of the sources added.

The sources requested anonymity because the matter is confidential.

A Dollar General spokesman said Vasos had not communicated any plans to the company regarding a potential departure after his contract ends in June, noting it was “merely good governance” to plan for a transition. Vasos’ contract renews automatically on an annual basis in June unless terminated or renegotiated.

“We have been speaking with management consulting firms related to executive development programs and as part of our succession planning process. We have not entered into a contract with any such firm to date,” the spokesman said.

Vasos has expanded Dollar General’s offerings to include more fresh produce and is wooing higher-income shoppers with new products in categories such as home decor, in a bid to stave off competition from large rivals such as Walmart Inc and Amazon.com Inc.

Dollar General has also invested heavily in private label brands, developing lines for items ranging from cat food to shampoo. It has added more distribution centers to supply its stores with dairy products, deli meats and frozen entrees. It has more than 16,000 stores, often in areas underserved by other retailers.

Dollar General shares have risen 170% since Vasos became CEO in 2015, compared to a 115% rise in the S&P 500 General Merchandise Stores index over the same period.

The COVID-19 outbreak has boosted Dollar General’s sales, as shoppers stay home more and buy more household necessities. Dollar General operates in small communities with few retailers.

The Goodlettsville, Tennessee-based company has taken steps to protect its more than 157,000 workers during the pandemic, and announced last month that it would pay its hourly and salaried workers for receiving COVID-19 vaccines.

It also said it would award $50 million in appreciation bonuses to its frontline workers in its fourth quarter, for a total of up to about $173 million for fiscal 2020.

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