The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 2.5% on October 19, ending an eight-day losing streak that was its worst since 2008, as the Nasdaq gained 1.1%. But Asian shares slid again on October 20, with South Korea's Kospi down 3.6% and the Nikkei off 1.3%, as investors awaited results from SpaceX, Meta and Tesla.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is expected to announce FAA certification of Boeing's 737 MAX 10 on October 20 at the planemaker's Everett factory, Reuters reported. The largest MAX variant accounts for nearly 1,500 orders, about 30% of Boeing's 737 backlog, after a certification delayed by crashes, a door-plug blowout and an engine anti-ice issue.
OpenAI is seeking to close a funding round of about $30 billion that could value it at more than $1.4 trillion, moving quickly to lock in investors before rival Anthropic's expected public debut in mid-November, according to Reuters. SoftBank and Abu Dhabi's MGX are among backers in talks to join.
Adani-controlled Mumbai International Airport has told airlines it will restrict about 5 million passengers a year of capacity from the summer 2027 schedule, when Terminal 1 closes for redevelopment, leaving carriers to shift flights to Navi Mumbai, suspend some services or find alternatives. Airlines say they have not agreed to relocate.
Indian auto tech startups raised $1.3 billion across 97 rounds between January and mid-October 2026, according to Tracxn, well short of the $2.1 billion raised in all of 2025. Rapido, Simple Energy and Rideriver led the largest deals, Bengaluru took about 70% of funding, and no new unicorns emerged.
So/Facet, a fashion-led lab-grown diamond jewellery brand co-founded this year by Aarushi Agrawal Naulakha and Abhishek Naulakha, has raised ₹10 crore in seed funding led by Sauce. The brand plans an online launch in November and more than 30 premium stores over three years.
Urban Company's board has approved raising up to ₹2,500 crore through a QIP, preferential issue or private placement, as its September-quarter net loss widened to ₹182.5 crore on heavy investment in its InstaHelp quick home-help service, even as revenue rose 41%.
Venture capital investment in Indian startups reached $10.9 billion between January and mid-October 2026, up 6.8% on a year earlier, but the number of rounds fell by more than a third to 1,253 as investors concentrated capital in deeptech, AI and infrastructure, according to Tracxn data.
China's economy expanded 4.5% year on year in the July-to-September quarter, slightly ahead of the 4.4% analysts expected and faster than the 4.3% recorded in the second quarter, but weak consumption, falling fixed-asset investment and a 20.6% slump in property investment show how unbalanced the recovery remains.
Indian shares fell in morning trade on October 19 as private lenders weighed on the market after their September-quarter results. The Sensex was down about 321 points at 74,408 by 11 am, Axis Bank fell 5% despite a 39% profit jump, Urban Company slid 9.4% after a wider loss and ixigo surged 13%.