Rise With Profit: Russia's Missile Strike, HDFC Bank's Loan Issue Plan, Goldman On India's GDP | Podcast
NDTV Profit Podcast: From NTPC Green's IPO to Goldman Sachs' forecast on India's GDP, here is everything you need to know at the start of your day.
Good morning!
This is the daily morning update from NDTV Profit and I’m Alex Mathew. Here’s everything you need to know at the start of your day.
Russia has used a long-range missile attack in what has been viewed as an escalation of the 33-month-old dispute with Ukraine. In a televised address last night, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that a hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile was used to strike a Ukranian military facility. The missile was called “Oreshnik”, or the hazel, and Putin warned that more strikes could follow.
Ukraine had initially claimed that an intercontinental ballistic missile had been used to hit the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro. But US officials and NATO echoed Putin's description of the weapon as an intermediate range ballistic missile, which has a shorter range of 3,000–5,500 kilometres, according to a Reuters report.
The use of the new missile comes days after Ukraine used US-made longer-range missiles sanctioned by the Biden administration on Sunday.
Prices of commodities rose after news of the incident came to light. Brent crude rose and settled at $74.3 to a barrel, while international gold was at around $2,674 to a troy ounce, having risen about 4% in a week.
Meanwhile, US jobless claims came in lower than expected, while continuing claims rose to a three-year high.
US stocks gave up earlier gains but ended in the green—both on account of the spike in geopolitical tension and a weak revenue outlook from Nvidia Corp. In the Asia Pacific region, it’s a strong start to trade with all three early risers trading in the green.
Domestic News: HDFC Bank's Loan Issue Plan, NTPC Green IPO, Goldman On India GDP
In the top news back home, there’s an update on HDFC Bank. According to people familiar with the matter, the bank plans to issue car loans worth Rs 12,372 crore to mutual funds, before the first week of December. This is part of an effort by the bank to bring down loan assets on its balance sheet after the merger with HDFC Ltd. threw its loan-to-deposit ratio out of whack. The loans are being sold as pass-through certificates and this is the second such instance of a sale this financial year.
In the primary market, the NTPC Green IPO was nearly fully subscribed on the second day on Thursday. It is the third largest public issue this year after Hyundai India and Swiggy. The issue is expected to be oversubscribed by a large margin on the final day today. At the upper end of the price band, the company is valued at a market capitalisation of Rs 91,000 crore.
The outcome of the Maharashtra assembly elections conducted earlier in the week will be tracked closely. Counting will take place over the weekend. Several exit polls released on Wednesday predict a second term for the BJP-Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction)-NCP (Ajit Pawar faction)-led Mahayuti alliance for the Maharashtra Assembly Election 2024. While three agencies—Dainik Bhaskar, P-Marq, and Lokshahi Marathi-Rudra—have predicted a hung house in Maharashtra.
In other news, Goldman Sachs has forecast India's GDP growth to slow to 6.3% year-on-year in 2025, citing continued fiscal consolidation and slower credit growth due to macro-prudential measures by the Reserve Bank of India as key reasons. The brokerage firm noted that despite this expected slowdown, India’s long-term structural growth prospects remain strong.
It also said it expects India to be a relatively insulated economy from global shocks emanating out of a potential trade war between the US and China.
