Rise With Profit: Ukraine's Strike On Russia, IPOs This Week, Vistara's Last Flight | Podcast

This is the daily morning update from NDTV Profit. This is where we bring you up to speed with everything you need to know at the start of your day.

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To international news first—and there’s plenty to tell you about. Let’s start with geopolitics. On Sunday, Ukraine launched one of its biggest drone strikes against Russia, targeting Moscow with 32 drones. That’s a report by Reuters. No fatalities were reported, but they led to the diversion of flights from three of Moscow’s main airports.

The drones were intercepted and shot down by Russian air defence over the Ramenskoye and Kolomensky districts of Moscow, according to the mayor of the city, Sergei Sobyanin.

The ongoing conflict now has a new angle, with Donald Trump winning another Presidential term. The US president elect, according to the Washington Post, had a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week. In that call, Trump advised Putin against escalating the conflict with Ukraine.  

Despite continued geopolitical tension, crude prices have been rangebound and brent crude starts the new week at below $74 to the barrel.

In other news, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said yesterday that he would be willing to call a vote of confidence in parliament before Christmas. And that could lead to snap elections following the collapse of his three-way governing coalition last week. That’s also a report by Reuters.

The timing is earlier than the January date he had proposed last week and follows increasing pressure from politicians and the public for a quicker vote.

In international markets, the three early risers in the Asia Pacific region have started a little muted with two of the three in the red. The Nikkei 225 in Japan was trading higher by only about 0.1% last I checked. By the way, the value of bitcoin has hit $80,000 for the first time, aided by the perception that Donald Trump is supportive of digital assets.

With the US Presidential Elections and the Fed policy out of the way, attention will now shift to key economic data—more specifically, the latest inflation print in the US.

Back home, too, there’s the latest print of the consumer price index inflation to watch for and there’ll also be plenty of action in the primary market. There are four listings, including that of Swiggy. There are also three issues that open for subscription—Zinka Logistics Solutions, Onyx Biotec, and Mangal Compusolution.  

In the top story back home over the weekend, Power Finance Corporation has decided against extending a loan to Shapoorji Pallonji Group. It’s a significant blow to the infrastructure group’s plan to refinance debt worth around Rs 20,000 crore.

The group, controlled by Indian billionaire Shapoor Mistry, had earlier reached out to Power Finance for the loan. Proceeds of the loan would primarily be used to refinance an old credit facility. With the latest move, the company may have to find new ways to raise money.

It has thrown into doubt the infrastructure conglomerate’s plans to refinance debt worth around Rs 20,000 crore. You’ll remember that Afcons Infrastructure, the engineering and construction arm of the group recently raised money through selling new shares, while founder Goswami Infratech offered shares worth Rs 4,180 crore in the IPO, somewhat helping it tide over its funding requirements.

In the aviation space, Vistara will take its last flight as a standalone carrier today. The merger with Air India will take effect from Tuesday. Singapore Airlines will make an additional investment of Rs 3,194.5 crore in Air India after the merger and will hold a 25.1% stake in the airline.