Wall Street recovery continues on China stimulus measures

Gains in technology heavyweights helped Wall Street’s main indexes climb for the second day yesterday, with fresh intervention by China’s central bank calming investor’s nerves.

China injected 1.7 trillion yuan ($242.74 billion) via reverse repos on Monday and Tuesday, helping Chinese stocks reverse some losses and lifting the world equity index.MIWD00000PUS.

The stimulus boosted investor sentiment even as several economists cut their forecasts for 2020 global growth as the fast-spreading virus has hampered business operations in the world’s second-largest economy.

“Investors seem to be reacting positively to the steps currently being taken by Chinese authorities,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at National Securities in New York.

Tesla shares hit $900

Shares of Tesla Incorporated surged 15percent yesterday to hit the $900 mark, extending a stunning rally that has more than doubled the company’s market value since the start of the year as more investors bet on Chief Executive Elon Musk’s vision.

The latest surge was partly fueled by Panasonic Corp saying yesterday its automotive battery venture with Tesla was in the black for the first time.

Some analysts have attributed the rally to short covering as well. Short interest in Tesla stood at 13.8 percent as of Jan. 30, according to Refinitiv data.

Shares of heavily shorted companies can at times get pushed higher as traders rush to buy stock to cover their short bets, triggering what is known as a “short squeeze”.

Panasonic shares closed up 10 percent, while those of Tesla’s Asian suppliers South Korea’s LG Chem Limited and China’s CATL also closed higher.

Britain to ban new petrol and hybrid cars from 2035

Britain will ban the sale of new petrol, diesel and hybrid cars from 2035, five years earlier than planned, in an attempt to reduce air pollution that could herald the end of over a century of reliance on the internal combustion engine.

The step amounts to a victory for electric cars that if copied globally could hit the wealth of oil producers, as well as transform the car industry and one of the icons of 20th Century capitalism: the automobile itself.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is seeking to use the announcement to elevate the United Kingdom’s environmental credentials after he sacked the head of a Glasgow U.N. Climate Change Conference planned for November known as COP26.

Vodacom to launch 5G services in South Africa in 2020

Vodacom Group expects to offer 5G mobile services to its South African customers this year by using a network being built by another African operator Liquid Telecom, Vodacom Chief Executive Shameel Joosub said Tuesday.

Liquid Telecom announced last month it was building a wholesale 5G network that would be available from early 2020, using its share of the 3.5 GHz spectrum required for 5G. It said it would allow other operators to roam on its network.

Liquid, which said its wholesale service would be available in major South African cities, did not say which technology supplier would be used to roll out its 5G network.

Firms must understand consumers’ to win competitive war — Salami

Chairman, Economic Advisory Council, Dr. Doyin Salami has said that for firms or brands to win competitive war, they must have clear understanding of evolution trends, especially where consumers earn from and how they spend.

He said also that this is necessary because whoever is paying for goods or services knows what is valuable to him.

Salami in his Keynote address at the maiden edition of Redwood Consulting’s Winning the Channels   Series tagged Power of Consumer Data, in Lagos said: “Most companies do not use data in decision making”.

He stated:   “For a firm or brand to win competitive war, they must have clear understanding of the evolution trends, that is, know where your consumers earn from, how they spend, because whoever is paying for a good or services knows what is valuable for them”.

He also noted that appreciating the need for data collection will enhance investments in gathering useable data, capacity to use such data and the ability to generate actionable insights which will help in making the right business decisions to achieve set goals.

Salami, further disclosed that “every in-road to gathering consumer data must have specific target either brand or corporate specifics.

As the challenges in Nigeria have been around non-availability, incompleteness, invalidity, timeliness and apathy towards use of data”.

In her opening remarks, Hannah Oyebanjo, Managing Director, Redwood Consulting, organizers of the programme disclosed that the idea behind the series was to stir up the industry by shedding more light on the role consumers play in meeting organizational goals such as market share, margins etc.

Contributing, Commercial Manager at Nestle Nigeria, Chandana Fernando  during the panel discussion said: “Data empowers you to design right marketing innovation and helps in responding proactively to the needs of the market. Knowing the consumers through the channels and demographics will enhance the right engagement and rewards”.

Remarking, Director Marketing and Communications Sub-Saharan Africa, MasterCard,   Ifeoma Dozie stated: “Ethical data gathering helps the organization to design and execute right and measurable marketing campaigns. And that it is a yardstick for innovation and consumer engagement which will impact on the bottom-line.

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