Finance, in brief

China's economy grew 4.5% in July to September from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics, China's official statistics office, said on Monday. [2][5]

Economists polled by Reuters had expected 4.4%, and growth picked up from 4.3% in April to June, the slowest in more than three years. [1][6]

Over the first nine months the economy grew 4.6%, inside the Chinese government's target of 4.5% to 5% for this year. [5][6]

Factories did most of the work: industrial output rose 5.5% in September, the fastest in six months. [6][8]

Exports jumped 36% in September, and China sold $938 billion more abroad than it bought from January to September. [3] It is on course to beat last year's record surplus of $1.2 trillion. [3][4]

Car exports reached 7.1 million in nine months, up more than 70%, and September's were led by hybrid and electric cars. [4]

Shoppers at home spent only a little more: retail sales rose 1.1% in September, the fastest since March. [6][8] Leaving out cars, they rose 3.9%. [7]

Property kept shrinking: money spent on building property fell 20.6% in the first nine months, and home sales fell 13.7%. [1][9]

New home prices fell again in September, so they have not risen since June 2023, though prices in the biggest cities are steadying. [10]

Factory-gate prices, what producers charge, rose 5% in September, the fastest in more than four years, while shop prices rose less than 1%. [1]

Sheana Yue of Oxford Economics, a forecasting firm, said that gap may leave firms paying more of their rising costs out of profit instead of raising prices. [1]

China's government added help in recent weeks: targeted interest-rate cuts and mortgage subsidies in late September, and 550 billion yuan ($82 billion) of unused borrowing allowance for local governments. [1][11]

Why it matters. The next test is whether shop prices start to follow factory prices up; until they do, Chinese firms carry more of the higher costs in their profits, and the case for more government help grows. [1]

The Jakarta Composite, Indonesia's main share index, fell more than 5% on Monday to its lowest since October 2020. [13] On Friday it had dropped 11.6%, its biggest one-day fall in nearly three decades. [15] The cause was MSCI, a company whose share lists big funds copy, proposing to move Indonesia out of its 'emerging market' group into 'standalone', alongside Lebanon and Zimbabwe. [15] Indonesia's regulators were due to meet MSCI on Monday to ask why. [14]

Why it matters. Goldman Sachs, a US bank, estimates removal could push about $5.6 billion out of funds that track the lists. [13] The rupiah, Indonesia's currency, is near 18,000 to the dollar, close to its record low. [15] A weaker rupiah makes fuel and everything else Indonesia buys abroad cost more.

Shares in Asian chipmakers fell again on Monday, and a Bloomberg measure of them dropped more than 2% to its lowest since July. [16] Taiwan's TSMC, Korea's SK Hynix and Japan's Advantest were among the biggest fallers. [16] Over the weekend DeepSeek, a Chinese AI company, released a faster, leaner model, which raised worries that AI will need fewer memory chips. [16] Japan's Nikkei index fell 2%, after losing 5.4% last week. [18] South Korea's main index, the Kospi, opened more than 3% lower and then won the loss back. [16][17]

Why it matters. US chip shares had fallen for eight sessions in a row on doubts that CoreWeave, which rents out AI computers, can pay for its building. [16] A fund manager in Seoul said Korean chipmakers cannot make money unless US firms keep spending. [16]

South Korea's National Pension Service, which invests the country's state pension savings, saw its big stakes in 287 companies lose 182 trillion won, about $137 billion, between the end of June and 15 October. [19] Falls in two chipmakers, SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics, caused about 72% of the loss. [19] The Kospi hit a record in June and then fell about 39%. [19] In May the fund had raised its target for Korean shares and cut its target for foreign ones. [19]

Why it matters. Korea's opposition People Power Party says the fund should have bought shares to steady the market as it fell. [19] The money belongs to the workers who will draw those pensions.

China's main share index, the CSI 300, fell 3.4% last week, its tenth weekly fall in a row, the longest such run on record. [12] Money going into funds favoured by the 'National Team', China's state-backed investors that buy to steady the market, hit its highest since July. [12] There is no official word that the state is buying. [12] The index rose 0.3% on Monday after the growth figures, but is still about 17% below its June peak. [12]

Why it matters. The Star 50, China's index of tech shares, has fallen nearly 40% this half-year, the worst of any big tech index. [12] China's government has leaned on the share market to help its push to lead in technology, so the fall is a setback for that plan. [12]

Brent crude, the main world oil price, fell 1.6% to about $108 a barrel on Monday. [18] On Friday US President Donald Trump signed an order suspending sanctions on Russia days before they began, and waived planned tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil. [22] He later said no final decision had been made, and Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said Trump would take up to 60 days to weigh it. [18] Chris Wright, the US energy secretary, said the waiver covers only diesel exports. [23]

Why it matters. Wright said Russia has no spare diesel to sell, so it can only sell more by fighting less. [23] Iran reported that another tanker had hit a mine in the Strait of Hormuz, and the US standoff with Iran still holds fuel prices up. [18][22]

The euro fell 0.1% to $1.1225 as Asian trading began on Monday, after a weekend of violent cost-of-living riots in France. [24] It stays close to last week's 16-month low of $1.1113. [18] A currency analyst in London said the riots matter for the euro mainly through French government bonds. [24] France's ten-year borrowing rate ended Friday at about 4.78%, about 1.37 percentage points above Germany's. [25]

Why it matters. Ninety One, an investment firm, warned that without a 2027 budget France's deficit could pass 6% of its economy, more than double the EU's 3% limit. [25] France holds a presidential election in about six months, and its government is already struggling to pass a budget. [26][25]

Alexandre Bompard, who runs Carrefour, one of France's biggest supermarket chains, said 50 of its stores were targeted by rioters on Saturday. [27] He said about 1,500 other shops were damaged, and put the cost of repairs at more than 10 million euros. [27] Thierry Guibert, head of the clothing brand Lacoste, said its shops were looted too. [28] Laurent Nunez, France's interior minister, said more than 2,000 people were arrested and 600 police officers hurt. [27]

Why it matters. Bompard asked France's government to pay shopkeepers compensation as fast as it does after a natural disaster. [27] Shops that cannot open lose their sales on top of the repair bill.

Food and soft drink prices in the European Union rose 34% between August 2021 and August 2026, according to Eurostat figures analysed by Euronews. [29] Eurostat is the EU's statistics office. Over the same time, the food a month's minimum wage buys fell by 6% in Malta, 5% in Spain and 4% in France, while it rose in most of the other countries studied. [29] The weekend's protests in France, Belgium, Italy and Portugal were about living costs, housing, low pay and public services. [29]

Why it matters. The comparison leaves out rent, taxes and other bills, so the squeeze on low-paid workers is bigger than these figures show. [29]

Companies on the London stock market issued 65 profit warnings in July to September, the most in two years, according to EY-Parthenon, a consulting firm. [30] A profit warning is a company telling investors it will earn less than they expected. Rising costs were the main reason in 35% of them, and 38% named the war in the Middle East. [30] Housebuilders have issued 14 warnings this year, more than the 10 they issued in 2008, during the financial crisis. [30]

Why it matters. John Healey, the UK chancellor, who sets taxes, presents his budget on 28 October, and business groups want help with fuel and power bills. [30] He is preparing to raise the point at which small firms start paying business rates, a tax on property, from 12,000 to 18,000 pounds. [30]

British steelmakers now pay almost 30 pounds more for each megawatt hour of electricity than French rivals, the widest gap in three years, according to UK Steel, the industry's lobby group. [31] Gas got dearer after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, and in Britain the cost of gas sets what all electricity costs, even power from wind and solar. [31] France's electricity comes mainly from nuclear power stations. [31] About 75% of Britain's exported steel, worth about 3 billion pounds, goes to the EU. [31]

Why it matters. UK Steel wants the UK government to cap the price steelmakers pay, at a cost it puts at about 51 million pounds a year. [31] The UK government says it has already cut power bills by up to 25% for more than 10,000 manufacturers. [31]

Yuriy Ryzhenkov, chief executive of Metinvest, one of Ukraine's biggest steel companies, told the BBC that new EU limits on steel imports are unfair to Ukraine. [32] The EU has cut the steel that can enter tax-free to 18.3 million tonnes a year, 47% less than in 2024. [32] It wants to protect its own mills from cheap imports from countries such as China and Turkey. [32] Ukraine's steel industry estimates its exports to the EU could fall by 50% to 60%. [32]

Why it matters. Before Russia's full invasion in 2022, metals and mining made up about a tenth of Ukraine's national income and a third of its exports, and the EU is its top customer. [32] Ryzhenkov says Russian strikes on the mills have grown much heavier recently. [32]

Sanae Takaichi, Japan's prime minister, told parliament she denies causing the yen's weakness or the rise in interest rates. [33] Under her government the yen fell to its lowest since 1986, and the governments of Japan and the US both stepped in to buy it. [33] Japan's long-term borrowing rates are at their highest in decades. [33] On Monday Kazuo Ueda, the governor of the Bank of Japan, said underlying inflation is 'quite close' to its 2% target. [24]

Why it matters. A weaker yen has helped Japan's exports. [33] It also makes the oil and food Japan buys abroad cost more in yen. Takaichi says total government borrowing for 2026 will not change, though experts doubt it. [33]

Foreign investors sold 302.6 billion Taiwan dollars, about $9.3 billion, of Taiwanese shares on Thursday, the biggest one-day outflow on record. [21] That pushed the Taiwan dollar close to its low for the year, about 32.5 to the US dollar. [21] Taiwan's economy is still expected to grow more than 10% this year, its first double-digit growth since 2010, because of demand for advanced chips. [21] The banks OCBC and ING expect the currency to recover about 2% by the year's end. [21]

Why it matters. Analysts say Taiwan's central bank has been comfortable keeping the currency between 31.5 and 32.5 to the dollar this year. [21] Foreign funds that sell shares must also sell the currency they were paid in, which is how a share sell-off pulls a currency down.

Shares of CXMT, a Chinese maker of memory chips, fell 6.5% on Monday. [20] On Friday it forecast a net profit of 131 billion to 132.5 billion yuan, about $19.6 billion, for January to September, against a loss of 5.28 billion yuan a year earlier. [20] It said demand for AI computing had caused shortages of memory chips and much higher prices. [20] CXMT took 10% of world sales of DRAM, a common memory chip, in the third quarter, up from 5% a year earlier, says Counterpoint Research, a market research firm. [20]

Why it matters. Investors are selling chipmakers on fears that AI spending will slow, so even a huge profit did not lift the shares. [16][20]

Jio Platforms, the phone and internet arm of Reliance Industries, takes bids on Monday from big 'anchor' investors, who promise to buy early. [36] Its share sale opens to the public on Wednesday 21 October. [36] It aims to raise 30,213 crore rupees, which is 302 billion rupees, in India's biggest share sale, passing Hyundai Motor India's 27,800 crore in October 2024. [35] Bidding closes on 23 October and the shares should start trading on 28 October. [35] Media reports say LIC, India's state-owned life insurer, and funds such as BlackRock want to be anchors. [36]

Why it matters. Jio is selling only new shares, so all the money goes to the company and none to existing owners. [36] Nine other companies start trading this week, and Tuesday is a market holiday for Dussehra, a Hindu festival. [34]

Nirmala Sitharaman, India's finance minister, told CNBC that plentiful money in India's share market lets investors sell out easily, and that this has held prices back. [37] India's main share indexes have fallen nearly 12% since January, and foreign funds have sold more than $33 billion of Indian shares this year. [37] Of the $60.4 billion raised in Indian share sales from 2021 to 2025, 63% went to existing owners selling out, not to the companies, a report by EY, an accounting firm, found. [37]

Why it matters. Foreign money went to Taiwan and Korea and their AI chipmakers instead, and India's share of a main MSCI index of Asian shares fell from 19% to 10%. [37] Sitharaman says continued outflows are one of India's biggest risks for 2027. [37]

Shares of Axis Bank, one of India's biggest private banks, fell 5% on Monday morning, and HDFC Bank fell more than 2%. [38] Axis's profit for July to September rose 37.6%, while HDFC Bank's rose nearly 5% and narrowly missed forecasts. [38][39] HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank are the two biggest companies in the Nifty 50, India's main share index. [39] Punjab National Bank, the second-biggest state-owned lender, said it does not plan to raise new capital this year and expects lending to grow about 15%. [40]

Why it matters. A broker said expectations had been high and the results were mixed. [38] State-owned banks are doing better because falling bond yields have eased their losses on the bonds they hold. [38]

IDBI Bank, an Indian lender controlled by LIC, the state life insurer, made a net profit of 2,205 crore rupees in July to September, 39% less than a year earlier. [41] The year before had included a one-off gain of about 1,699 crore from selling part of its stake in NSDL, a share-records company. [41] Its income from lending, after paying savers, rose 29%. [41] India's government and LIC are selling a combined 60.72% of the bank to Fairfax Financial, a Canadian group, for about 52,878 crore rupees. [41]

Why it matters. Leave out last year's one-off gain and the bank earned more from lending, not less. [41] Its shares are down about 19% this year. [41]

Cleanaway, an Australian waste management company, agreed on Monday to be bought by EQT, a Swedish firm that buys whole companies with investors' money. [42] The deal values Cleanaway at about 9.3 billion Australian dollars, or $6.5 billion, including its debt. [42] Shareholders will get 3.095 Australian dollars in cash for each share. [42] Cleanaway's shares rose nearly 20%, heading for their best day since October 2011. [42] The offer is 32.1% above the share price before EQT's interest became public in August. [42]

Why it matters. Cleanaway's board backs the deal, so it now goes to a vote of shareholders. [42] Any dividends paid before the deal closes, up to 0.19 Australian dollars a share, will be taken off the 3.095 dollars. [42]

Dangote Petroleum Refinery, a huge oil refinery in Nigeria, says its share sale has drawn buyers from more than 90 countries, including 51 of Africa's 54 nations. [43] It says the sale broke the Nigerian record on its first day and the African record within ten days. [43] For January to September 2026 the refinery reported revenue of $22.5 billion and a net profit of $4.7 billion, against a loss of $117.2 million a year earlier. [43] The sale closes on 27 October. [43]

Why it matters. These figures come from the company, and its statement does not say how much money the sale has raised so far. [43] The company says it plans no further extension of the sale. [43]

Dubai Investments, a Dubai-listed group of companies, is selling 20% of DIP Holding, which owns Dubai Investments Park, in the UAE's first share sale this year. [44] Bids open on 27 October and close on 3 November, and trading should start on 11 November. [44] The park, near Jebel Ali port, is home to 1,000 tenants and more than 150,000 residents. [44] Share sales in the Middle East raised $7.1 billion in 2025, down from $13 billion the year before. [44]

Why it matters. Dubai Investments said last year that it planned to list part of the park, before the US war with Iran, now in its eighth month, stalled deals across the region. [44]

The United Arab Emirates has signed a deal, announced on Sunday, to host the 2029 annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in Abu Dhabi. [45] The IMF lends to countries in money trouble, and the World Bank lends to poorer countries to help them grow. The meetings draw more than 10,000 people from over 190 countries, including finance ministers and central bank governors. [45] It will be the first time they return to the Emirates since Dubai hosted them in 2003. [45]

Why it matters. The deal was signed in Bangkok as this year's meetings ended. [45] The UAE's finance ministry called it a mark of confidence in its financial system. [45]

Admiral Brad Cooper, who runs US Central Command, the US military's command for the Middle East, said the US naval blockade has stopped Iran exporting at least $25 billion of crude oil. [46] He said Iran is now holding back salaries and pensions, including pay for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, its most powerful armed force. [46] Oil sales usually make up about a third of Iran's state budget. [46] Payments for the last cargoes already at sea, mostly sold to China, may keep arriving until December. [46]

Why it matters. Retired Iranian government workers have protested over missing pensions, the New York Times reported. [46] These figures come from the US military, one side in the war.