India Space Stocks Rocket; ForgeRock Takeover Cleared; Snap Consolidates in India.

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Indian Space Stocks Rocket $2.5bn

Data compiled by Bloomberg shows that the stocks of 13 companies that provide equipment to India’s space sector added more than $2.5bn in market value this week, ahead of the scheduled touchdown of the country’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on Wednesday. The gains were led by a 23% uptick for industrial gas firm Linde India [LINDEINDIA.NS]. Satellite communications provider Avantel [AVANTEL.BO] is up more than 12% and Centum Electronics [CENTUM.NS] is up nearly 11%.

Huawei’s Shadow Chip Production

Huawei is building a secret network of semiconductor factories across China, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, a Washington-based lobby group which represents the world’s leading chipmakers, among them Intel [INTC], Samsung Electronics [005930. KS] and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. [TSM]. According to the group, this would allow the black-listed Chinese tech giant to circumvent US sanctions.

ForgeRock Stock Climbs on Takeover Approval

The US Justice Department has said it will not challenge Thoma Bravo’s $2.3bn takeover of ForgeRock [FORG], an identity and access management software company. The deal could now be finalised this week. ForgeRock’s stock climbed as much as 8.8% on the news. Antitrust concerns were prompted by the fact that Thoma Bravo owns one of ForgeRock’s main competitors, SailPoint Technologies, having acquired it last year.

Snap Consolidates in India; Meta Breaches EU Data Laws

California-based Snap [SNAP], the Snapchat parent, has continued its push into growth regions with the appointment of Pulkit Trivedi, an ex-Google [GOOGL] executive, to head its India operations. Snap also announced a new localised organisational structure for the country, where it says it has 200 million monthly active users. Elsewhere in social media, Norway’s data regulator has told a court that Meta [META] is breaking EU data laws by harvesting user data to create targeted advertising.

Xiaomi’s EV Move Approved

Smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi [1810.HK] has been given the green light by China's state planner to start producing electric vehicles (EVs), Reuters reports, which it aims to start doing by early 2024 with a $10bn investment. Malaysia, meanwhile, is moving to expand its EV footprint, after Tesla [TSLA] announced it is to build a regional headquarters in the country. “EV happens to be our priority,” Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told CNBC in an interview last Friday.