Shares on the major indexes of the US stock market began the last trading week of 2020 with record gains on Monday after US President Donald Trump signed the COVID-19 stimulus package. Trump had previously refused to sign the package over the amount set for direct payments to the US citizens. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Nasdaq 100, and the S&P 500 all started the trading session at all-time-high levels.
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Tesla in India
India’s Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari on Monday confirmed that Tesla will enter the country’s market in early 2021.
Gadkari told the Indian Express that the electric automaker will start with sales in the country but could also consider opening manufacturing and assembly facilities there in the future.
Meanwhile, Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk said on Monday he will be soon meeting Oracle’s co-founder Larry Ellison to ask for some advice. Larry Ellison, who also sits on the board of Tesla and has 3 million shares of Tesla. Two weeks ago he said he will follow Musk and move Oracle’s headquarters from Silicon Valley to Austin, Texas, and let many employees choose their office locations and decide whether to work from home.
Ant Group Probe
Alibaba Group Holding Limited’s stock in Hong Kong dropped over 7% on Monday after Chinese regulators issued orders to the company’s affiliate Ant Group to improve regulatory compliance and rectify all business and financial violations.
According to media reports, the People’s Bank of China and other regulators met Ant officials last week and criticized the company for issues with corporate governance, alleged lack of regulatory compliance, “illegal regulatory arbitrage behaviour, the use of market advantages” that “exclude business operators in the same industry,” and for hurting “the legitimate rights and interests of consumers,” Pan Gongsheng, the deputy governor of China’s central bank was quoted by Bloomberg.
“The Ant Group must fully recognize the seriousness and necessity of rectification, meet the standard supervision requirements, and formulate a rectification plan and implementation schedule as soon as possible,” he pointed out in a statement.
BMW EV
German car manufacturer BMW wants to increase the number of sold electric vehicles to 20% of its total vehicle sales, according to CEO Oliver Zipse.
In an interview with Augsburger Allgemeine, Zipse explained the company is “significantly increasing the number of electric vehicles. Between 2021 and 2023, we will build a quarter of a million more electric cars than originally planned.” The plan represents a significant change, as BMW’s vehicle sales this year comprised of just around 8% of electric cars.
Bitcoin Rally Continues
The price of Bitcoin surpassed the $28,000 mark on Sunday as the rally prompted by increasing investor interest and uncertainties related to the coronavirus pandemic continued.
Bitcoin now accounts for 65% of the world’s total cryptocurrency market, with the total sum of tokens in circulation valued at $500 billion.
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