The US stock market on Tuesday’s session closed mixed as investors keenly watched Democrats plan to pass another stimulus package after President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration.
The new bill is set to include $2,000 stimulus checks to individuals across the United States.
President-elect Joe Biden has also urged the US Congress to “ensure prompt action” and raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour.
Major Global Markets Updates
Plane manufacturer Boeing has announced that it recorded the worst net aircraft sales on record in 2020 as cancellations reached an all-time high of more than 650 during the year.
The company unveiled it received gross orders for 184 aircraft in 2020, including more than 80 of its 737 Max planes in December after the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) cleared the aircraft to return to the skies after 20 months.
It delivered a total of 157 planes in 2020, including 59 shipments made in the fourth quarter.
Visa Halts $5.3 Billion Plaid Acquisition
Visa Inc. and Plaid on Tuesday announced that the companies have terminated their merger agreement and agreed with the Department of Justice to dismiss the litigation related to the proposed transaction. The proposed transaction was first announced on January 13, 2020.
“We believe the combination of Visa with Plaid would have delivered significant benefits, including greater innovation for developers, financial institutions and consumers. However, it has been a full year since we first announced our intent to acquire Plaid, and protracted and complex litigation will likely take substantial time to fully resolve.” said Al Kelly, Chairman and CEO of Visa Inc.
The two companies will continue to work together as partners and Visa may become an investor in Plaid, the companies noted.
Tesla registers New Company in India
Electric vehicle company Tesla is set to make its entry in India after it registered ‘Tesla India Motors and Energy Private Ltd‘ in Bengaluru and is in talks with the state government for an R&D centre.
According Indian publisher ET, the Indian company has three directors on board who are also Tesla Executives; Vaibhav Taneja, Venkatrangam Sreeram, and David Feinstein made Director in the new firm.
In October 2020 while responding to a tweet on whether he knows when the company will come to India, Musk responded: “Next year for sure.”
VW Reports 158% surge in electric car deliveries
Volkswagen said on Tuesday that Volkswagen Passenger Cars’ global deliveries of electric cars surged 158% and deliveries of battery electric vehicles (BEV) soared 197% in 2020.
The brand delivered 212,000 electric cars over the past 12 months, including 134,000 BEVs.
“2020 was a turning point for Volkswagen and marked a breakthrough in electric mobility,” Volkswagen Passenger Cars CEO Ralf Brandstaetter stated. “We are well on track to achieve our aim of becoming the market leader in battery electric vehicles,” he added.
GM $27B initiative to take on Tesla
Meanwhile, General Motors on Monday announced that the company is currently “working with all the best startups” in order to create the best next-generation EV battery technology. The focus of this $27 billion worth initiative is to challenge Tesla in the electric vehicle sector.
Parks noted that GM is “also looking outside the company to startups to get on the front edge of that learning curve.”
Speaking at an investor conference, Parks confirmed GM continues to strengthen its relationship with Honda nut added “there’s an opportunity for more. We could extend that relationship to other segments.”
General Motors also announced on Tuesday the launch of a new virtual assistant company called BrightDrop in order to offer an “ecosystem of electric first-to-last-mile products for logistics companies.”
According to the statement, the first of these products will deliver in the year 2021 in the form of 500 FedEx delivery vehicles.
Zoom Seeking to raise $1.5B in Class A public offering
Zoom Video Communications has announced plans to raise $1.5 billion of shares of its Class A common stock in an underwritten public offering.
Zoom will grant the underwriter a 30-day option that would allow purchasing up to an additional $225 million of shares at the public offering price.
On Tuesday, the company filed for a mixed shelf offering with the SEC that allows the company to register a new issue of securities and sell portions of securities over three years, without being obliged to sell the whole issue in a single offering.
