Gold slips ₹320 on low demand, weak global cues
MUMBAI: Gold prices slipped by ₹320 to ₹30,300 per 10 grams at the bullion market on Friday owing to slackened demand from the local jewellers along with subdued global cues. Silver prices too dropped by ₹320 to ₹37,020 per kg following persistent offtake from industrial units.
FLIPKART LIKELY TO APPOINT NEW GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Flipkart Pvt. Ltd, now controlled by Walmart, is considering naming a new chief executive at the group level, two people familiar with the matter said.
Flipkart co-founder and group CEO Binny Bansal took over the chairman’s role in May after former chairman Sachin Bansal left Flipkart over differences with the company’s board.
Now, Walmart, which agreed to buy 77% in Flipkart for $16 billion in May, is considering a move to separate the responsibilities of chairman and group CEO, the people cited above said. Apart from the eponymous e-commerce platform, Flipkart group owns the fashion retailers Myntra and Jabong, as well as mobile payments firm Phonepe.
Walmart is considering both internal and external candidates for the group CEO role, the people cited above said. FK CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy is one of the candidates likely to become group CEO, the people said.
OYO CHECKS INTO THE UNICORN CLUB WITH $1 BILLION FUNDRAISE
Hotel chain Oyo Rooms said it would raise $1 billion from Japan’s Softbank Vision Fund and other investors, making it India’s second-most valuable startup after Paytm, and the latest to join the coveted unicorn club.
The latest funding values the company at a little less than $5 billion, a more than five-fold jump from the $900 million valuation at which it raised funds in just the previous year, three people familiar with the transaction said. Oyo didn’t disclose the valuation at which the funds were raised.
GOVT HIKES IMPORT DUTIES ON 19 ITEMS INCLUDING FRIDGE, AC
The government on Wednesday raised import duties on 19 nonessential items worth ₹86,000 crore including refrigerators, air conditioners, jewellery, diamonds and stationary items to arrest a widening current account deficit and a falling rupee. However, the imposition of a 5% import duty on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) is unlikely to impact air fares as India mostly imports crude oil and refines ATF domestically. India imported only $181 million worth of jet fuel in 2017-18. Abhishek Jain, tax partner at EY India, said the increase in import duties coupled with an already depreciating rupee would be a cause for worry for importers.
GOOGLE WANTS TO ANSWER QUERIES YOU HAVEN’T EVEN ASKED
For two decades, typing a line of text into a blank search bar was the way almost everyone interacted with Google. Now the company is taking an even more active role in leading users around the internet.
The search giant announced a raft of new features at an event on Monday to celebrate its 20th anniversary. A Facebook-like newsfeed populated with videos and articles the company thinks an individual user would find interesting will now show up on the Google home page just below the search bar on all mobile web browsers.