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Longtime NBC News anchor Brian Williams is returning to the screen on election night, only this time he'll be streamed on Amazon Prime Video

Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the Khalistani separatist and Indian-origin citizen of the US and Canada, is in the spotlight after US this week named Vikash Yadav, a former Indian intelligence officer once associated with the Research and Analysis Wing, or R&AW — as the central figure in a failed plot to kill him. According to a wanted poster by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Vikas Yadav is the second Indian to be named in this controversy. The US Justice Department has charged Vikash Yadav with murder-for-hire and money laundering. According to reports, the plot allegedly began in May 2023, when Vikash Yadav then reportedly an employee of the Indian government, allegedly collaborating with individuals in India and overseas to execute the assassination of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEE) on Friday reported 70% year-on-year (YoY) growth in its consolidated net profit at Rs 209 crore for the quarter ended September 2024. It was Rs 123 crore a year ago. Analysts had pegged the core net profit for the September quarter at Rs 153 crore.

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"Geopolitical events do not seem to be causing any impact on the world economy. In fact, there is potential for some deceleration in geopolitical problems over the next 12 months," says Mark Matthews, Julius Baer. The disconcerting factor we were discussing is when it comes to the quarterly earnings back home, is there some sort of a sense of a slowdown that could be prolonged due to macro concerns in India? Mark Matthews: I do not know if it is macro concerns, but you are absolutely right. I think the major issue facing India now is the deceleration in earnings growth. And the Nifty will still clock around 10% earnings growth this year, but the most recent quarter, it is looking very flattish.

United Spirits Ltd. dropped 0.93 per cent to Rs 1513.5 at 01:38PM (IST) in Friday's trade. The counter hit a high of Rs 1525.5 and low of Rs 1504.0 so far during the session. The stock had closed at Rs 1527.85 in the previous session. The counter had a total traded volume of 01:38PM shares so far with a turnover of Rs 0.43 crore on BSE. The stock traded at a price-to-earnings multiple of 77.72 and a price-to-book ratio of 11.55.

European shares opened muted on Friday, after the European Central Bank's latest rate cut and upbeat earnings prompted strong gains in the previous session, with the main stocks gauge headed for a second weekly rise. The Europe-wide STOXX 600 index was down 0.05% at 0718 GMT, with real estate firms leading losses down 0.6%, while basic resources and autos helped to keep it afloat.

Rajnath Singh on Friday said the private sector must play a leading role in defence sector, citing its ability to drive innovation and adapt to rapid changes. Speaking at the DRDO Industry Workshop on defence technology acceleration in Delhi, Singh said, «Technology's impact on the defence sector is not limited to conventional warfare; it has given birth to unconventional warfare, including drones, cyber warfare, bio-weapons, and space defence. These elements pose challenges to the defence sector.» «I think the time has come for the private sector to take the lead in defence sector participation. I say this because the private industry has the capability not only to absorb rapid changes but also to create new innovations,» he added.

Havells India Ltd. traded 1.2 per cent higher in Friday's session at 01:14PM (IST). The stock opened at Rs 1806.0 and has touched an intraday high and low of Rs 1856.0 and Rs 1762.9, respectively, during the session so far. The stock quoted a 52-week high of Rs 2104.95 and a 52-week low of 1233.1. About 64,472 shares changed hands on the counter so far.

Bengaluru police have filed an FIR against Union Minister Pralhad Joshi's brother and sister based on a complaint of cheating lodged by a former JD(S) MLA's wife. His brother Gopal Joshi and sister Vijayalakshmi were booked by Basaweshwaranagar police. Gopal's son Ajay Joshi has also been named in the FIR, police sources said on Friday. The complaint was filed by Sunita Chavan, wife of former Nagthana MLA Devavand Phool Singh Chavan, who lost the 2023 Assembly election. She alleged that Gopal promised her to get a ticket to contest the May Lok Sabha elections when she approached him at his Hubballi residence in north Karnataka in March and later delivered Rs 25 lakh at Vijayalakshmi's house at Basaveshwaranagar here on his instruction.

Pankaj Pandey, Head Research, ICICIdirect.com, says they have been very selective in giving recommendations largely because there is no follow-up. They have recommended an IT stock – Newgen Software – with a target price of Rs 1,465, the results were good and our sense is that the company will keep growing at 23-24 odd percent, both revenue and bottom line, over the next two-three years. Pandey says one needs to be very selective because up till now, the results have not been helping the market. They are also expecting hospitals to do well and have been recommending Narayana Hrudayalaya. What is the tone and tonality at the retail level in the last couple of days? I mean, is leverage coming down? Is participation coming down? The two important short-term indicators are mood and momentum. The momentum is waning and the mood has become sour. Pankaj Pandey: The mood keeps on changing depending on how things pan out. So, post Haryana Assembly election results, the mood definitely changed and now we have upcoming US elections and elections in Maharashtra. So, anxiety levels are higher. Our sense is that moods can change post the favourable outcome in some of these events.

Max Healthcare Institute Ltd. rose 0.17 per cent to Rs 935.95 in Friday's trade. It hit an intraday high of Rs 943.3 and low of Rs 924.85, respectively, during the day. The stock quoted a 52-week high price of Rs 1117.05 and low of Rs 538.95.

Pankaj Pandey, Head Research, ICICIdirect.com, says typically, any year, one could easily get 10-12% kind of a correction, and multiple corrections in the market. So 6% is already run, at max possibly 4-5% is very much possible. But Pandey thinks that the market ideally should bottom out at current levels. The second half is expected to be better because a lot of ordering, tendering should happen given the fact that H1 was quite soft. A lot of sectors in the second half are expected to do well. ICICIdirect is maintaining a target price of 27,500 for Nifty and about 15-16% CAGR growth in earnings for the next two years. How are you looking at the overall earnings because that is a bit disconcerting? There is such a divergence from what the Street was pencilling in and the kind of commentary and the kind of results that a lot of companies have been putting out and also across-the-board, the slowdown seems to be quite evident. How much of a concern is that? Pankaj Pandey: Overall, this was expected to be a softer quarter. We are already at peak margins of 19-20% for Nifty. So, incrementally margin expansion was definitely not the case. And we all know that in big sectors like IT, the demand is still soft and possibly Q4 is where some bit of a revival can be expected and obviously, we will have US elections impacting the sentiment as well and commodity prices continue to remain soft whether it is for steel, whether it is for cement.

DLF Ltd. traded at Rs 872.8 on BSE at 12:43PM (IST) on Friday, up 1.39 per cent from previous close. The stock quoted a 52-week low price of Rs 513.55 and a high of Rs 967.0.

Federal Bank Ltd. traded at Rs 193.45 on BSE at 11:50AM (IST) on Friday, down 0.05 per cent from previous close. The stock quoted a 52-week low price of Rs 137.3 and a high of Rs 206.55.

Marico Ltd. gained 0.43 per cent to Rs 668.85 in Friday's trade as of 11:46AM (IST). It hit a high of Rs 672.45 and low of Rs 655.0 during the session. The stock quoted a 52-week high price of Rs 719.8 and a low of Rs 486.75. The return on equity for the stock stood at 38.64 per cent. About 5,636 shares have changed hands on the counter so far.

Srini Pallia, CEO, Aparna Iyer, CFO and Saurabh Govil, CHRO, Wipro in conversation with ET Now. CFO Iyer says that their guidance is based on the visibility that they have at the start of the quarter. The guidance is impacted by furloughs, fewer working days and softness in Europe. The large deals that we won also would take some time to ramp up. So, overall, the momentum seems good. Q3 is more about seasonality and hopefully they will bounce back in Q4. CEO Srini Pillai further says net-net, right now the BFSI segment is positive. He cannot predict what is going to happen in six months and six quarters from now, but as of now, they are seeing good momentum in that sector. What would you call the highlight for the second quarter and how would you rate the current demand environment? Srini Pallia: First, specifically in Q2, three of our four markets have sequentially grown, which is good news. In terms of sectors, we had two of them growing sequentially, two of them growing year on year, and of course we had manufacturing and energy and utilities which have sequentially de-grown. But in the context of the overall market, I see momentum picking up, especially in Americas for us, both Americas 1 and Americas 2, and also APMEA.

Pidilite Industries Ltd. rose 3.46 per cent to Rs 3264.0 in Friday's trade as of 10:00AM (IST) even as the benchmark Nifty ruled at 24645.8, down 104.05 points. The scrip had closed at Rs 3154.75 in the previous session. The stock quoted a 52-week low of Rs 2293.1 and a high of Rs 3414.4. The company quoted a market-cap of Rs 165909.73 crore on the BSE.

Varun Beverages Ltd. gained 1.5 per cent to Rs 596.65 in Friday's trade as of 10:05AM (IST). It hit a high of Rs 597.6 and low of Rs 579.0 during the session. The stock quoted a 52-week high price of Rs 682.84 and a low of Rs 331.28. The return on equity for the stock stood at 29.64 per cent. About 58,985 shares have changed hands on the counter so far.

Bannari Amman Sugars Ltd.(up 1.24%), Simbhaoli Sugars Ltd.(up 0.05%) and Ugar Sugar Works Ltd.(up 0.03%) were among the top gainers.