Finance, in brief

India's rupee rose 1% on Monday to 95.76 per US dollar, its biggest rise since April. [1]

On Friday it had closed at 96.73, close to its record low of 96.96 in May, after losing nearly 8% this year. [2]

From Monday the Reserve Bank of India, the country's central bank, supplies all the dollars that India's three state oil companies need each day. [2]

Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum used to buy those dollars on the open market, so their orders no longer add to demand there. [2][3]

The bank also tightened rules on currency contracts: banks must now keep cash with it equal to 20% of the value of some contracts above $2 million. [2]

Bloomberg, a financial news service, called these the bank's strongest steps to support the rupee since 2013. [1] That year, talk of the US central bank buying fewer bonds pulled money out of countries like India.

Cheaper oil helped: Brent, the world's main oil price, fell 1.6% to $103 a barrel on Monday. [3] India buys about 90% of its crude oil abroad. [2]

India's ten-year borrowing rate still rose to 7.35%, its highest since November 2023. [1]

Foreign funds sold Indian shares for 11 trading days in a row, taking out 35.69 billion rupees on Friday alone. [3]

Economists say the steps buy time but do not remove the causes: oil near $100 and US borrowing rates at multi-year highs. [2] Dhiraj Nim of ANZ, an Australian bank, expects the rupee to weaken to 97.50 per dollar within six to twelve months. [2]

The dollars now come out of India's reserves, which fell from $765bn on 18 September to $734bn on 2 October. [2]

Importers may pay more to protect themselves against currency swings, because banks are expected to pass on the new costs. [2]

Why it matters. Watch India's reserves: ANZ's Dhiraj Nim says traders will now follow them more closely, because the oil firms' dollars come straight out of them. [2]

South Korea's currency, the won, rose as much as 0.8% on Monday to 1,333.30 per US dollar, its strongest in two years. [8][10] Korean markets had been shut for a three-day weekend. [8] Heavy dollar selling by Korean companies and lower oil prices lifted it, Bloomberg reported. [8][10] The won has gained 7.4% against the dollar this year. [10] South Korea's main share index, the Kospi, fell 3% the same day. [9][10]

Why it matters. Oil is priced in dollars, so a stronger won means Korean buyers need fewer won for each barrel. Most other Asian currencies also rose on Monday. [8]

Genting, a Malaysian casino and leisure group controlled by billionaire Lim Kok Thay, plans to raise about 1.25 billion ringgit ($306 million) by selling new shares to its existing owners. [13] This is called a rights issue, and the new shares will be sold at a discount of 25% to 30%. [12] It will use 800 million ringgit to repay loans, saving about 41.3 million ringgit a year in interest. [12] Its shares fell as much as 17% on Monday, the most since 1998. [13] They are down more than 47% this year. [11]

Why it matters. Maybank, a Malaysian bank, said the sale suggests Genting struggled to swap its loans for longer ones, and cut its advice on the shares from buy to sell. [11] Genting's profit fell to 74 million ringgit in the first half of the year, from 248.1 million a year earlier. [12]

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), a UK research group on tax and public spending, says John Healey faces GBP35bn of spending pressures. [15] Healey is Britain's chancellor, its finance minister, and presents his budget on 28 October. [15] Higher prices since the Iran war began shrink what each department's budget can buy. [16] The IFS says higher borrowing costs add about GBP10bn to the 2029-30 bill. [15][16] Higher prices also bring in more tax, so it expects his spare room to shrink by only about GBP4bn. [15]

Why it matters. Healey must choose between spending cuts, tax rises or both, the IFS says. [16] Its director, Helen Miller, said writing in cuts he does not mean to make would turn the budget into 'a work of fiction'. [15]

Interest on debt will take 19.2% of China's central government budget this year, up from 12% in 2014, according to the Conference Board, a US business research group. [17] CSIS, a Washington research group, found China's interest spending grew 341% from 2013 to 2025, faster than any other part of the budget. [17] Over the same years, all spending grew 102%, defence 141%, science 137%, and social security and jobs 207%. [17]

Why it matters. Interest now takes a bigger share of China's budget than the 14% it takes of the US federal budget. [17] China's growth is on course to miss its target of 4.5% to 5%. [17]

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), which lends to governments in trouble, and the World Bank, which lends to poorer countries, began their yearly meetings in Bangkok on Monday. [19] US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is not going and sent two officials instead, a US official told Reuters. [18] The IMF says public debt worldwide is at its highest since the Second World War. [18] In developing countries, interest already takes more than 10% of government income on average. [18]

Why it matters. Iolanda Fresnillo of Eurodad, a campaign group on debt, said poorer countries are already cutting spending because their debt payments are rising and because of the IMF's loan conditions. [18] World Bank President Ajay Banga said growth has held up better than feared, and the Bank is not cutting its forecasts for now. [18]

Sixteen central banks raised their main interest rates at their September and October meetings, Mint, an Indian business paper, reported. [4] India's central bank joined them last week, with its first rise in nearly three and a half years. [4] Oil has climbed from about $70 a barrel to $98-100 in seven months, adding to the pressure on prices. [4] The World Bank expects world growth to slow to 2.5% this year, from 2.9% in 2025. [4]

Why it matters. Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda, an Indian bank, says poorer economies are under more pressure to raise rates alongside rich ones, because they rely on foreign money. [4] When many countries raise rates at once, borrowing gets dearer for governments, companies and families in all of them.

Thailand's finance minister, Ekniti Nitithanprapas, told CNBC that the country will cut its budget gap below 3% of its yearly output within a few years. [10] This year's gap is reported at 4.3%. [10] Thailand's public debt was nearly 68% of its output in August, against a legal ceiling of 70%. [10] He said Thailand's government could raise that ceiling if needed. [10]

Why it matters. He said Thailand's government is watching rising world borrowing costs and will lean on private money for big projects. [10] Thailand is hosting this week's IMF and World Bank meetings. [10]

The Stock Exchange of Thailand will change its trading rules from 16 November, a filing said. [21] Short selling, which means selling borrowed shares to profit from a fall, will be allowed only in the most-traded shares, such as the 100 biggest. [21] Accounts that send many orders but trade little will pay extra fees. [21] Limits on how far a single share may move will go, and some trading will start two hours earlier, at 8am. [21]

Why it matters. The exchange says it wants steadier prices, more trading and more investor trust. [21] Thailand's market regulator approved the changes after a public consultation. [21]

China's central bank added about 23 tonnes of gold in September, its biggest monthly purchase in almost three years. [22] It has now bought gold for 23 months in a row. [22] China imported more than 1,000 tonnes worth a record $158.8 billion in the first eight months of 2026, more than in all of 2025. [22] Gold rose 0.3% on Monday to about $4,206 an ounce. [23]

Why it matters. Julius Baer, a Swiss bank, says China wants to depend less on US government bonds after Western governments froze Russia's reserves in 2022. [22] Chinese families also buy gold because homes and shares have done badly and bank deposits pay little. [22]

Traders put an 81% chance on the US central bank leaving its interest rate unchanged this month, FedWatch, a tool run by the US exchange CME, shows. [7] A month ago that chance was 51%. [7] The US central bank raised its rate in September for the first time since 2023. [7] Traders still see an 86% chance of a rise by December. [23] Kevin Warsh, who chairs the US central bank, has made clear that rising prices are his main focus. [24]

Why it matters. Lower oil since Sunday has taken some of the worry about prices out of the market, an analyst at KCM Trade, a trading firm, said. [23] The dollar stayed close to its strongest level in 18 months. [7]

Since May, the US ten-year borrowing rate has moved more closely with diesel than with crude oil, for the first time. [25] Amrita Sen of Energy Aspects, an energy research firm, found the link. [25] US diesel costs about $6.28 a gallon, 71% more than a year ago, while crude is up 56%. [25] Diesel moves trucks, farm machines and factories, so its price feeds into many other prices. [25]

Why it matters. When fuel pushes up expected prices, lenders expect more rate rises and ask more to lend, so borrowing costs rise for households. [25] Trump's pause on the federal diesel tax saves 24 cents a gallon, while the price is $2.60 higher than a year ago. [25]

Ireland, which chairs the meetings of the EU's national governments this half-year, proposed cutting EUR159 billion from the EU's next seven-year budget, for 2028 to 2034. [26] That is about 8% of the European Commission's plan of almost EUR2 trillion. [26] It takes EUR75 billion from competitiveness, EUR38 billion from foreign aid and at least EUR22 billion from emergency funds. [26] Payments to farmers and to regions were left alone. [26]

Why it matters. The Commission, the EU's executive, warned on Sunday that Europe would have no money left to help farmers and regions when a crisis hits. [26] EU leaders meet on Thursday and Friday, and a German-led group of countries wants far deeper cuts. [26]

Pakistan's main business group, the FPCCI, asked the power regulator, Nepra, to reject 268 billion rupees of extra charges on consumers. [27] Ten power distribution companies, once part of the state utility Wapda, want to recover costs from past years through their 2027 prices. [27] Together they claim 2.64 trillion rupees of income for 2027. [27] The FPCCI says many of the claims were disputed, or already refused by Nepra. [27]

Why it matters. If Nepra approves them, the charges would be added to electricity bills for homes and factories. [27] One company's claims for past costs came to more than twice its yearly margin, the FPCCI says. [27]

Zetwerk, a Bengaluru company that makes industrial and consumer goods for clients worldwide, set a price range of 143 to 151 rupees a share for its stock market debut. [28] It hopes to raise 50.1 billion rupees, about $520 million, which would value it at 255.8 billion rupees. [28] Bidding opens on 15 October, and its shares are expected to start trading on 23 October. [28]

Why it matters. Early backers, including the venture firms Peak XV, Accel and Lightspeed, are selling part of their stakes in the sale. [28] Up to 75% of the shares are set aside for big institutions and 10% for small investors. [28]

Poonawalla Fincorp, an Indian lender that is not a bank, said its profit rose 407% to 3.75 billion rupees in July to September. [29][3] The interest it earned rose 72%, faster than the 62% rise in the interest it paid. [29] The share of its loans that have gone bad fell over the quarter. [29] Its shares rose more than 7% on Monday. [29]

Why it matters. Its income from lending, after paying its own interest, rose 81% to 13.8 billion rupees. [29] The firm also widened its gold loans to 550 branches. [29]

Ola Electric, an Indian maker of electric scooters, will sell new shares worth about 10 billion rupees to its existing owners at 27 rupees each. [14] Owners get two new shares for every 25 they hold on 13 October. [14] The offer opens on 22 October and closes on 30 October. [14] The shares are partly paid, so buyers pay some of the price now and the rest later. [14]

Why it matters. The number of shares will rise from about 4.63 billion to about 5 billion if the offer is fully taken up. [14] Owners who do not buy will hold a smaller part of the company.

Wheat and corn prices in Chicago, the main world market for grain, fell for a fourth day on Monday. [30] Wheat dropped 0.86% to $6.65 a bushel. [30] Good weather in the US Midwest raised hopes that farmers can catch up on a harvest slowed by rain. [30] The US farm department has raised its estimate of grain left over at the end of the season. [30]

Why it matters. China cut its forecast for its own soybean crop by 590,000 tonnes, to 20.36 million tonnes. [30] Brazil, the biggest soybean grower, is planting at its fastest pace ever. [30]

No company has sold shares to the public in the United Arab Emirates this year, after three listings raised $1.1 billion in 2025, according to Dealogic, which tracks deals. [31] The Iran war that began on 28 February has stalled new listings. [31] Dan Simkowitz, co-president of the US bank Morgan Stanley, expects listings to return once the conflict settles. [31] Gulf debt markets held $1.2 trillion of bonds and loans at the end of June. [31]

Why it matters. The World Bank expects Gulf economies to shrink 4.3% this year. [31] Simkowitz said the war adds a risk cost for the region that he hopes is temporary. [31]

The S&P 500, an index of 500 big US companies, has risen 118% since its low on 12 October 2022. [32] It ended last week near 7,811, up 1.2% for the week. [32] The US ten-year borrowing rate is now about 5.2%. [32] Since 1950, rallies that reached four years went on to gain about 19% on average in their fifth year, Carson Investment Research, a US investment firm, says. [32]

Why it matters. Jordan Rizzuto of GammaRoad Capital, an investment firm, says pension funds may move money from shares to bonds that now pay similar returns with smaller swings. [32] Higher rates also mean companies spend more on interest and keep less as profit. [32]

Codelco, Chile's state-owned copper company, was trying on Sunday to rescue two workers caught in a mudslide at El Teniente, its giant mine. [33] A third worker was rescued and taken for medical care. [33] Six people died in an accident at the same mine last year. [33] Another fatal accident hit a different Codelco mine less than two weeks ago. [33]

Why it matters. Codelco said severe weather in central Chile set off the slide in an open-pit part of the mine. [33] Chile mines more copper than any other country, and copper goes into power cables and electronics.