PremiumAsset markets have seen a sharp increase in volatility, with oil racing to near $100 per barrel and the Cboe Volatility Index, known as Wall Street's fear gauge, up more than 55% over the past nine days
Oil and gold jumped after TASS news agency reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to conduct a special operation to “protect" the Donbas region.
Brent crude advanced 2.6% to $99.36 a barrel while gold hit its highest level in more than a year on increased demand for the haven asset.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced a military operation in Ukraine, claiming it’s intended to protect civilians.
In a televised address, Putin said the action comes in response to threats coming from Ukraine. He added that Russia doesn’t have a goal to occupy Ukraine. Putin said the responsibility for bloodshed lies with the Ukrainian “regime."
Putin warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to “consequences they have never seen."
He accused the U.S. and its allies of ignoring Russia’s demand to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO and offer Moscow security guarantees.
He said the Russian military operation aims to ensure a “demilitarization" of Ukraine. Putin said that all Ukrainian servicemen who lay down arms will be able to safely leave the zone of combat.
There was no immediate reaction from the White House to Putin’s remarks, but U.S. officials have repeatedly pledged to place overwhelming sanctions on the Russian economy and Putin allies in retaliation for a further invasion of Ukraine.
Vodafone Group Plc ("Vodafone") holds 757.8 million shares in Indus Towers Limited ("Indus"), equivalent to a 28.1% shareholding. 190.7 million of these shares, equivalent to a 7.1% shareholding, are currently pledged to Indus (the "Primary Shares") as part of the security arrangements entered into between Vodafone and Indus (the "Security Arrangements") at the time of the merger of Indus Towers with Bharti Infratel.
Vodafone announces that it has launched a placing of 63.6 million Primary Shares in Indus through an accelerated book build offering (the "Placing"). This represents 2.4% of Indus' outstanding share capital.
Vodafone is also in advanced discussions with one of the largest shareholders in Indus for the purchase of up to 127.1m Indus shares from Vodafone, or 4.7% of Indus' outstanding share capital, which represents the remaining balance of Primary Shares. The terms of such an agreement are currently being discussed and there can be no certainty that the sale will proceed. Should the sale be completed, Vodafone would retain 567.2 million shares in Indus, or a 21.0% shareholding (the "Residual Shareholding").
In addition, Vodafone is also in discussions with several interested parties in relation to a potential sale of the Residual Shareholding. A further announcement will be made as soon as practicable if any further agreements are reached.
Vodafone and the Aditya Birla Group ("ABG"), the promoters of Vodafone Idea Limited ("Vi"), are committed to support Vi in its efforts to strengthen its balance sheet. The first step in this process included the conversion of $2.1bn of AGR and spectrum interest into equity, which will make the Indian Government the largest shareholder of Vi. Vodafone and ABG intend to contribute towards an issue of equity shares by Vi (a "Capital Raise") once the terms of such a Capital Raise have been evaluated and decided on by the Board of Directors of Vi.
Vodafone and Indus have modified the Security Arrangements in order to allow Vodafone to dispose of the pledged Primary Shares and use the proceeds to participate in an issue of new shares by Vi, referenced above. The modified terms will continue to provide security to Indus for an equivalent amount of payments by Vi under the Master Services Agreements. Any residual proceeds from the sale of the Primary Shares that are not used by Vodafone to subscribe for new shares in Vi will be available to Indus until 19 November 2022 to guarantee Vi's obligations under the Master Services Agreements.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday fast-tracked proceedings before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on the validity of a 2019 deal between Amazon.com Inc. and the Future Group which gave the American retail giant the right to buy into the latter’s flagship Future Retail Ltd (FRL).
In December, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) suspended the clearance for the 2019 deal between Amazon and Future, holding that Amazon failed to notify it about certain crucial details of its acquisition as required under the law. The CCI also imposed a penalty of ₹202 crore on Amazon, which has now challenged the decision before the NCLAT. (Read here)
Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange fell 269 points, or 1.58%, to 16,794.00, in early deals on Thursday, pointing at a negative start for Indian benchmarks.
Stocks fell Thursday on growing geopolitical tension after the Kremlin said separatists in eastern Ukraine asked President Vladimir Putin for help, a step that could lead to Russian troop deployments.
An Asia-Pacific equity gauge fell to the lowest level this month amid declines in Japan, Hong Kong and China. U.S. futures retreated following a technology slide Wednesday that pushed the S&P 500 further into a correction. Treasuries, the dollar, gold and crude oil all gained.
The Kremlin said separatist leaders from two self-declared republics sought help to repel Ukrainian forces. Putin has said he doesn’t yet intend to send what he called “peacekeepers" to eastern Ukraine, but would do so “as necessary." Russia has rejected U.S. warnings that it plans to invade Ukraine.
Western powers have expanded sanctions to deter Russian aggression after the nation massed troops around its neighbor. The latest U.S. step was to target the builder of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline linking Russia and Germany.
S&P 500 futures fell 0.7%, Nasdaq 100 futures slid 0.8%.
Japan’s Topix index fell 0.8%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index fell 2.9%, South Korea’s Kospi index shed 1.6%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index fell 1.6%, and China’s Shanghai Composite index lost 0.3%.
Overnight, U.S. stocks took a beating, as Ukraine declared a state of emergency and the U.S. State Department said a Russian invasion of Ukraine remains potentially imminent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 464.85 points, or 1.38%, to 33,131.76, the S&P 500 lost 79.26 points, or 1.84%, to 4,225.5 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 344.03 points, or 2.57%, to 13,037.49.
The MSCI World Index, a leading gauge of equity markets globally, skidded to its lowest level since April 2021.
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