Finance, in brief

China's three money regulators were due to meet big banks and fund firms on Monday. [3]

The aim is to halt a slump in Chinese share prices. [1]

A big state-owned bank plans to lend up to 200bn yuan more to two state funds. [1]

The two state funds would use that money to buy shares. [1]

Chinese shares have just had their worst month in more than a decade. [1]

The new loans would pump fresh money into China's share market, Bloomberg reports. [1]

Economists asked China's government to do more for growth after the weak factory survey. [8]

The gap partly comes from which firms each survey asks, Investing.com notes. [9]

The official survey asks more big state firms; RatingDog asks more small private ones. [9]

Shen Meng, of Beijing bank Chanson & Co, says it will help 'in the short term'. [1]

He says signals like this cannot change the economy's path on their own. [1]

Nobody has said how much of the 200bn yuan will buy shares straight away. [1]

China's government is lining up state banks and state funds to buy shares after a month of heavy selling, while its own factory survey shows the economy weakening. [1][8]

They can borrow cheaply from banks to buy their own shares, through a central-bank loan scheme. [1]

Which of China's two factory surveys gives the truer picture.

The official one fell to 49.3 and the private one read 52.0, because they ask different kinds of firms. [8][9]

Brent, the world's main oil price, fell 3.3% to $109.66 a barrel on Monday. [5]

It had hit $118 on Friday, its highest in six months. [14]

Iran's top diplomat said a plan could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days. [5]

That holds only if the US meets several conditions, he said. [5]

Oil tankers sail through the Strait of Hormuz, and attacks on them lift energy costs. [12]

Iran and Qatar held talks for a third day in a row. [12]

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said President Trump would prefer to end the war peacefully. [11]

Indian shares rose as cheaper oil eased worry about India's energy costs. [16]

Neither the US nor Iran has dropped its first demands, Fortune reports. [13]

US papers report the US may strike again after Tuesday's midterm elections. [11]

Whether the talks in Qatar lead to a deal on the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran says a plan could reopen it within two days only if the US meets several conditions, and no direct US talks are being held. [5]

Reliance Industries, India's most valuable company, refines oil and also runs a phone network. [14]

Its profit for July to September rose 33.8% from a year earlier, to a record. [15]

Earnings at its refining and chemicals arm rose 67.9%. [15]

War pushed the gap between crude and fuel prices to 3 to 3.7 times last year's. [15]

Its shares jumped about 6% on Monday. [14]

Its shops did less well, earning slightly less on each sale. [17]

Reliance's jump helped lift India's main share indexes on Monday. [16]

Refining profits are at least twice their five-year average, so they may not last. [17]

Why cheaper oil makes the countries that buy it richer

A country buys oil from abroad

It pays with money earned by selling its own goods abroad

When oil gets cheaper, each sale abroad pays for more oil

Less money leaves the country for fuel

More is left to spend at home

Dear oil makes a country that buys oil poorer overall, yet its refiners that sell fuel abroad can still earn a record.

The price of a barrel fell by about $8 in one weekend of talks. Every country that buys oil pays that price on each barrel.

Oil fell from $118 to about $110, and investors said cheaper oil eased worry about India's energy costs.

The country depends on imported fuel, so dear oil pushed inflation to 7.2% and the peso to record lows.

Reliance buys crude and sells fuel, so the war's wider gap between crude and fuel prices lifted its profit 33.8%.

India's government takes part of what exporters gain from dear fuel and keeps more fuel at home.

The gain reaches people only if cheaper oil reaches the pump, and a falling currency can eat it up.

A driver in Manila pays more when oil is dear. A worker at an Indian refinery may have a better year at the same moment.

War pushed the gap between crude and fuel prices to over three times last year's, lifting its profit 33.8%. [15]

How long Reliance's refining profits last.

Refining margins are at least twice their five-year average, and world oil demand looks weak for 2026. [17]

India's Sensex share index rose 1.27% to 75,404.64 on Monday morning. [14]

15 of the 16 main sectors on the market gained. [14]

Bank of Baroda, a state lender, rose 3.5% after a strong quarter. [14]

Delhivery, a parcel firm, rose 7.2% after a profit, against a loss a year ago. [14]

Indian Oil's profit nearly tripled, helped by state payments for cooking-gas losses. [14]

Even so, the Sensex closed Friday 13.6% below its high of last December. [19]

Cheaper oil eased worry about energy costs and their effect on India's economy. [16]

Analyst G Chokkalingam warns dear oil and poor rains still push prices up. [14]

India's government raised its extra tax on diesel and jet fuel sold abroad on Saturday. [18]

The tax on each litre of diesel exported rose from 8.5 to 11.5 rupees. [18]

The tax on jet fuel exports rose to 11 rupees a litre, from 10.5. [18]

The tax on petrol exports was cut to zero, from 2.5 rupees. [18]

The new rates run for two weeks from 31 October. [18]

India first taxed diesel and jet-fuel exports in March, after war began in West Asia. [18]

The tax aims to keep more fuel at home for Indian buyers. [18]

It is called a windfall tax because it targets gains from the sudden price jump. [18]

Refiners that export diesel, like BPCL and HPCL, will earn less per litre sold abroad. [18]

India's government takes part of what exporters gain from dear fuel and keeps more fuel at home.

Staff at IDBI Bank, an Indian state-owned lender, called a two-day national strike on Sunday. [20]

They oppose its sale to Fairfax Financial, a Canadian firm. [20]

Fairfax won a bid in October for over 60% of IDBI, for $5.5bn. [20]

India's government calls it the country's biggest foreign investment in a financial firm. [20]

Fairfax bid 81 rupees a share, against a fair value set at 75.99. [20]

IDBI shares opened at about 79 rupees on Monday. [20]

Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi backs the staff: 'Public banks are not assets to be sold off.' [20]

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman says the state rescued IDBI with over 250bn rupees. [20]

India's government is selling stakes in firms as pressure on its budget deepens. [20]

A news site reported officials pushed the value down; the ministry defends its process. [20]

It takes 11.5 rupees on each litre of diesel exported, and gets 81 rupees a share for IDBI against a fair value of 75.99. [18][20]

Their union wants the sale cancelled to protect employees' interests, and called a two-day strike. [20]

Whether IDBI Bank was valued fairly before its sale to Fairfax.

Businessworld reported officials pushed the value down; India's finance ministry says the bidding was double blind. [20]

Shares in Kioxia, a Japanese maker of memory chips, fell as much as 17% on Monday. [21]

It forecast roughly flat sales and profit for the coming quarter. [21]

Its last quarter's results were broadly as expected. [21]

Kioxia's shares had risen more than 750% in the first half of the year. [21]

Kioxia says some data-centre storage shipments slipped into the next quarter. [21]

Japan's Nikkei index fell as much as 1%, then recovered after midday. [21]

Investors in AI chip firms have become more demanding, Business Insider says. [21]

Kioxia says its planned output for 2027 is already sold out. [21]

Whether Kioxia's delayed shipments arrive next quarter.

The company says some data-centre storage sales slipped into the following quarter, and gave no firm date. [21]

South Korea's Kospi share index rose 2.3% to 5,859.83 on Monday. [5]

It had been down nearly 2% early in the day. [22]

SK Hynix, a memory-chip maker, jumped 4.2%. [5]

The Kospi had fallen more than 16% over the past month. [5]

OpenAI boss Sam Altman met about 50 Samsung executives on Saturday. [23]

He also reportedly had lunch with SK Group's chairman, Chey Tae-won. [23]

OpenAI already works with Samsung and SK on memory chips and AI data centres. [23]

Foreign investors were still net sellers, of 344bn won of shares. [22]

Australia's central bank is expected to raise its rate for a fifth time this year. [24]

Most economists expect a rise to 4.85%, the highest in 18 years. [24]

30 of 32 economists polled by Reuters expect that rise. [25]

Prices in Australia rose 4.3% in the year to September. [26]

Governor Michele Bullock said inflation was 'likely to remain elevated for some time'. [27]

Home values in major cities fell 1.4% in October. [24]

Westpac, one of Australia's big four banks, reported a small rise in yearly profit. [25]

Higher rates make home loans dearer while house prices are already falling. [24]

Nobody knows yet whether this rise will be the last. [24]

The decision is due at Tuesday's policy meeting. [25]

A rise to 4.85% makes loans dearer while city home values fell 1.4% in October. [24]

Whether Australia's expected rise on Tuesday is the last one.

Bloomberg's Australia briefing calls it the big question, with home values already falling. [24]

Major currencies barely moved on Monday before Tuesday's US midterm elections. [28]

The euro sat near a 17-month low, at $1.1159. [28]

Fitch, a ratings firm, turned France's outlook negative after Friday's close. [28]

The yen eased to 157.78 per dollar. [28]

New Zealand's dollar slid 1.2% last week after its central bank surprised by holding rates. [28]

Standard Chartered's Eric Robertsen says a Democratic win could slow data-centre building plans in states. [28]

AMINA Bank says October's hedge fund losses leave little room for an election surprise. [28]

Traders also face US jobs data and rate decisions in the UK, Australia, Norway and Sweden. [28]

The US Treasury will say on Wednesday how it plans to sell its debt. [29]

Many bond dealers expect its biggest change of plans since early 2024. [29]

Citigroup expects cuts to sales of 20- and 30-year bonds starting this month. [29]

UBS, another bank, sees no change in actual sales until May. [29]

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stepped up buybacks of long bonds after yields jumped. [29]

Yields on 30-year bonds were above 5.30% on Friday. [29]

Selling fewer long bonds means more short-term bills, which must be refinanced constantly. [29]

Bills last up to a year, so the US sells over $500bn of them weekly. [29]

US interest costs topped $1 trillion in the year to September, more than defence. [30]

Economist Robin Brooks argues the Fed and Treasury are quietly trying to hold long rates down. [30]

What the US Treasury announces on Wednesday.

Citigroup expects cuts to long-bond sales this month, while UBS sees no change in actual sales until May. [29]

China's central bank made an overnight lending rate its main policy rate on Monday. [10]

It lent 541bn yuan, about $81.3bn, to banks overnight at 1.25%. [10]

Analysts say this cuts banks' borrowing costs by about 0.15 percentage points. [10]

It was not a normal rate cut, analysts said. [10]

Worries about Zhuhai Huafa, a state-owned property developer, have unsettled China's bond market. [10]

The change should push borrowing costs down across China's bond market, analysts said. [10]

ANZ's Zhaopeng Xing called it a 'red packet', a gift of cash, for lenders. [10]

He says it lifts banks' lending profit slightly but will barely help shares. [10]

The new overnight rate cuts what they pay to borrow, adding about 0.05 points to what they earn on loans. [10]

ICBC, the world's biggest bank by assets, made 111.96bn yuan in the third quarter. [7]

That was nearly 10% more than a year earlier. [7]

Over nine months, ICBC's profit rose 6%. [38]

Its share of loans gone bad held steady at 1.29%. [7]

ICBC's shares rose 3.3% in Hong Kong on Monday. [7]

China Construction Bank's quarterly profit rose 8.49%, and its shares rose as much as 2.5%. [6]

Fears that banks earn too little on each loan had weighed on their shares. [7]

Regulators have asked these same big banks to help fund share buying. [6]

Citigroup, a big US bank, cut its lithium price forecasts on Friday. [31]

Lithium goes into batteries for electric cars and big power stores. [31]

Its three-month target for lithium carbonate fell to $12,000 a ton, from $20,000. [31]

Lithium's price in China has fallen more than 40% since the end of August. [31]

Citi points to slower growth in battery demand and trade uncertainty. [31]

CATL, a battery maker, got local approval for its shut lithium mine on Friday. [31]

CATL's shares rose as much as 4.2% on Monday. [31]

Buyers are likely to delay purchases and keep stocks lean, Citi says. [31]

Goldman Sachs expects more lithium than buyers need for the next two years. [31]

The Philippines hoped to boom in 2026, its year chairing ASEAN, Southeast Asia's main regional group. [32]

Instead it has been Southeast Asia's worst-hit country from high energy prices since February. [32]

Inflation is back at its April peak of 7.2%. [32]

The peso is at record lows against the dollar. [32]

Its central bank raised its rate to 5.5% on 22 October. [32]

One university forecast for this year's growth fell from above 5% to 3.7%. [32]

Spending cuts after a flood-control scandal last year also slowed growth. [32]

Economist Ruben Carlo Asuncion says the shock exposed the country's dependence on imported fuel. [32]

The World Bank expects growth to rebound to 5.2% in 2027. [32]

The country depends on imported fuel, so dear oil pushed inflation to 7.2% and the peso to record lows.

Dear imported fuel has pushed inflation back to 7.2% and the peso to record lows. [32]

US voters decide state tax measures on Tuesday that could move state and city bonds. [33]

These 'muni' bonds pay interest that is free of US federal tax. [33]

California votes on a one-time 5% tax on the wealth of billionaires. [33]

Florida votes on raising a homeowners' property-tax break from $25,000 to $250,000 by 2028. [33]

Washington voters can repeal a new 9.9% tax on incomes over $1 million. [33]

States and cities sold $473.8bn of these bonds by September, 7.8% more than last year. [33]

Higher state taxes make tax-free bonds worth more, says Nuveen's Dan Close. [33]

Florida towns that lose property tax would have to find money elsewhere. [33]

If state taxes rise on Tuesday, the tax break on their interest is worth more. [33]

Fitch Ratings turned its outlook on Georgia's credit rating to positive, from stable, on Friday. [34]

It kept the country's rating at BB. [34]

Georgia's reserves of foreign money hit a record $8.2bn in September. [34]

That is $2bn more than at the end of 2025. [34]

Its payments gap with the rest of the world narrowed to 1.5% of its economy. [34]

Fitch expects its economy to grow 7.5% this year. [34]

Growth averaged above 8% a year from 2023 to 2025. [34]

Fitch says tighter policy and steady money flowing in built the reserves. [34]