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Adani Group stocks rout deepens to $72 bln despite share sale completion

2023-02-01T05:10:22Z

Adani logo and decreasing stock graph is seen in this illustration taken January 31, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

Most Adani Group stocks dropped on Wednesday, extending losses to $72 billion after a short-seller report criticised the conglomerate and despite the group completing a closely watched share sale a day earlier.

Hindenburg Research’s report last week alleged improper use of offshore tax havens and flagged concerns about high debt. It added that shares in seven Adani listed companies have an 85% downside due to what it called “sky-high valuations”.

The group, led by Gautam Adani, one of the world’s richest people, had denied the allegations and called them baseless, adding that it has always made necessary regulatory disclosures.

Investors have, however, dumped shares in the aftermath of the report which has become one of the billionaire’s biggest business and reputational challenges.

“There was a slight bounce yesterday after the share sale went through, after seeming improbable at a point, but now the weak market sentiment has become visible again after the bombshell Hindenburg report,” said Ambareesh Baliga, a Mumbai-based independent market analyst.

“With the stocks down despite Adani’s rebuttal, it clearly shows some damage on investor sentiment. It will take a while to stabilise,” Baliga added.

On Wednesday, Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS) lost 2% and Adani Transmission (ADAI.NS) slipped 3%. Adani Power (ADAN.NS) fell 5%, while Adani Total Gas (ADAG.NS) slumped 10%, down by its daily price limit.

Adani Total Gas, a joint venture between France’s energy major Total (TTEF.PA) and Adani Group, has been the biggest casualty of the short seller report, losing about $27 billion in value since last Wednesday.

Adani Enterprises had bounced over the last two sessions as the group mustered support from investors to haul the flagship firm’s share sale over the line on the last day of sale. The company has still lost over $7 billion in value.

Hindenburg said in its report it had shorted U.S.-bonds and non-India traded derivatives of the Adani Group.

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A real zoodunit: Missing monkeys deepen mystery in Dallas

DALLAS (AP) — When police said two small monkeys were taken from the Dallas Zoo this week and a cut was found in their enclosure, it deepened a growing mystery that has included other cut fences, the escape of a small leopard and the suspicious death of an endangered vulture.

Police said Tuesday that they’re still working to determine whether or not the incidents over the last few weeks are related. Police, who haven’t made any arrests in any of the incidents, released a photo and video Tuesday of a man they want to talk to about the missing monkeys.

The photo shows the man eating Doritos chips while walking, and in the video clip he is walking down a path.

Here’s what is known so far about the incidents:

WHAT HAS HAPPENED AT THE ZOO?

The zoo closed Jan. 13 after workers arriving that morning found that the clouded leopard, named Nova, was missing. After a search that included police, the leopard weighing 20-25 pounds (9-11 kilograms) was found later that day near her habitat.

Police said a cutting tool was intentionally used to make the opening in her enclosure. A similar gash also was found in an enclosure for langur monkeys, though none got out or appeared harmed, police said.

On Jan. 21, an endangered lappet-faced vulture named Pin was found dead by arriving workers. Gregg Hudson, the zoo’s president and CEO, called the death “very suspicious” and said the vulture had “a wound,” but declined to give further details.

Hudson said in a news conference following Pin’s death that the vulture enclosure didn’t appear to be tampered with.

On Monday police said two emperor tamarin monkeys were believed to have been taken after someone cut an opening in their enclosure. The zoo said the monkeys — which have long whiskers that look like a mustache — would most likely stay near their habitat, but that a search of zoo grounds failed to find them.

WHAT COULD BE THE MOTIVE IN TAKING THE MONKEYS?

Lynn Cuny, founder and president of Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation in Kendalia, Texas, said she wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out the monkeys were taken to be sold. Depending on the buyer, she said, a monkey like the ones taken could be sold for “several thousands” of dollars.

“Primates are high-dollar animals in the wildlife pet trade in this country,” Cuny said. “Everybody that wants one wants one for all the wrong reasons — there’s never any good reason to have any wild animal as a pet.”

She said the monkeys could be in danger in a variety of ways, from an improper diet to exposure to cold. Temperatures in Dallas dipped into the 20s on Tuesday during a winter storm.

“Hopefully the animals will be found and protected, but this is a terrible thing,” she said.

WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE VULTURE?

Pin’s death has been hard on the staff, a zoo official said.

The vulture was “a beloved member of the bird department,” according to Harrison Edell, the zoo’s executive vice president for animal care and conservation.

Speaking at a news conference, Edell said Pin was at least 35 years old and had been at the zoo for 33 years. “A lot of our teams have worked closely with him for all of that time,” Edell said.

Pin, one of four lappet-faced vultures at the zoo, was said to have sired 11 offspring, and his first grandchild hatched in early 2020.

Edell said Pin’s death was not only a personal loss but also a loss for the species, which “could potentially go extinct in our lifetime.”

WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT SECURITY?

Hudson, the zoo’s CEO, said in a news conference following Pin’s death that normal operating procedures included over 100 cameras to monitor public, staff and exhibit areas, and that number had been increased. Overnight presence of security and staff was also raised.

Where possible, he said, zoo officials limited the ability of animals to go outside overnight.

After Nova went missing, officials said they had reviewed surveillance video but not what it showed.

The zoo was closed Tuesday and Wednesday due to the storm.

HAVE THERE BEEN OTHER INCIDENTS IN THE PAST?

In 2004, a 340-pound (154-kilogram) gorilla named Jabari jumped over a wall and went on a 40-minute rampage that injured three people before police shot and killed the animal.

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Associated Press writer Paul J. Weber contributed to this report from Austin, Texas.

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South Korea logs record trade deficit as tech demand falls

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea logged its biggest monthly trade deficit ever, at $12.7 billion in January, as exports of computer chips and other high-tech items sank and costs for importing oil and gas surged, the trade ministry said Wednesday.

The growing shortfall underscored how Russia’s war on Ukraine is straining the global economy, keeping prices for key resources like crude oil and nickel high even after they fell back from spikes in 2022.

South Korea’s export-dependent economy has logged a deficit for 11 consecutive months, the longest streak since 1997 when it was on the cusp of the Asian financial crisis.

Exports of computer chips, South Korea’s most important product, declined by nearly 45% last month from a year earlier because of slowing demand and falling chip prices, according to South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The trade data was released after South Korean chip giant Samsung Electronics reported that its profit for the last quarter plunged by nearly 70% in what it described as a “significantly” deteriorated business environment for its semiconductors and consumer electronics products.

Chip making is highly cyclical, and tech industries have swung from stark shortages for many computer chips, felt across many industries including automaking, to a glut.

Samsung said chip prices fell sharply amid weakened demand as clients adjusted their inventories in face of “deepening uncertainties” in the global economy, a problem the company says will likely extend through this quarter.

On Wednesday, SK Hynix, another major South Korean chipmaker, reported an operating loss of 1.7 trillion won ($1.4 billion) for the October-December period, which marked its first quarterly deficit since 2012.

“With uncertainties still lingering, we will continue to reduce investments and costs, while trying to minimize the impact of the downturn by prioritizing markets with high growth potential,” the company said in a statement.

SK Hynix announced plans in October to reduce its investments in 2023 by more than a half compared to the 19 trillion won ($15 billion) it spent in 2022.

The trade ministry said the country’s exports during January declined by nearly 17% from a year earlier, with the modest increase in the sales of cars, petroleum products and ships failing to offset the larger drop in semiconductor shipments.

The country, which depends on imports to provide most of its energy supplies, spent nearly $16 billion purchasing fuel, gas and coal last month. This was considerably higher than the average of $10 billion the country spent to import those items during the Januarys of the previous 10 years, senior trade official Moon Dong-min said.

“The global economy remains sluggish, due to the contractionary policies of major economies and the prolonging of Russia’s war on Ukraine,” Moon said in a briefing.

He said the war, which has left countries grappling with higher prices and slower growth, has taken a similar toll on other economies dependent on industrial exports, including China, Japan and Germany.

Moon said the global semiconductor market will likely remain sluggish over the next few months before recovering in the later half of the year following the depletion of existing inventories.

“If the exports of semiconductors recover, that would be a huge help in letting our (country’s) exports recover,” Moon said.

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Everything We Know About the Police Killing of Double-Amputee Anthony Lowe

The Jan. 26 police shooting of a 36-year-old double-amputee in southeastern Los Angeles is the latest killing of a Black man to set off protests about police violence.

Activists and the family of Anthony Lowe Jr. took to the Huntington Park Police Department headquarters on Monday to condemn the killing. “They murdered my son in a wheelchair—with no legs,” Lowe’s mother Dorothy said.

Last week, five police officers were charged with second-degree murder for beating 29-year-old Tyre Nichols in Memphis—leading to his death days after. Protests broke out across the U.S. following Nichols’ death.

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What is the police’s account of the Lowe shooting?

In a Jan. 30 statement, the Huntington Park Police Department said its officers were responding to a stabbing on the afternoon of Jan. 26.

The stabbing victim described his attacker as a man in a wheelchair. The attacker allegedly “dismounted the wheelchair, ran to the victim without provocation, and stabbed him in the side of the chest” with a “12-inch butcher knife,” before fleeing the scene in the wheelchair.

In the search for the assailant, they located the alleged suspect, later identified as Lowe, a few blocks away, holding a knife. Huntington police said its officers attempted to detain the man, but authorities said he ignored verbal orders and “threatened to advance or throw the knife at the officers.” They also said they tasered the suspect twice.

“The suspect continued to threaten officers with the butcher knife, resulting in an officer-involved shooting,” the statement read.

L.A. County Fire Department Paramedics declared the suspect dead at the scene.

What about the police officers involved?

The police officers involved were placed on paid administrative leave per protocol, according to the Huntington police.

The Huntington Park Police Department, Homicide Bureau of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office are investigating the shooting.

How is the family reacting?

A grainy video of the incident, which TIME could not independently verify, is circulating online, appearing to show Lowe, dismounted from his wheelchair, hobble away from two police officers as he carries what appears to be a large knife. A police car then blocks the view.

The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday that Lowe’s sister identified him in the video. It also said that the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department collected video from a nearby establishment, though it does not intend to release the footage.

Cliff Smith, an organizer with the Coalition for Community Control Over the Police, called on Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón to prosecute the officers involved. “We want specific justice,” he said at the press conference outside local police headquarters Monday.

Lowe’s mother Dorothy said, “This situation is worse than George Floyd. When these videos go out, it’s going to be all bad.”

The family has not commented on Lowe’s alleged involvement in the stabbing incident.