Brent crude fell about 1.4% to roughly $108 a barrel on October 19 after President Donald Trump signed an order suspending a raft of Russia sanctions and waiving tariffs on buyers of Russian oil. A reported mine strike on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz limited the decline, leaving markets trading on headlines.
Foreign portfolio investors have withdrawn ₹52,100 crore from Indian equities so far in October, taking total outflows in 2026 to ₹3.12 lakh crore, almost double last year's ₹1.66 lakh crore. High US bond yields, a strong dollar, expensive crude and an AI rally in North Asia are drawing money away.
Indonesian shares fell more than 5% on October 19 after an 11.6% plunge on Friday, when index provider MSCI said it was considering moving the country from emerging-market to standalone status over insufficient progress on ownership transparency and trading behaviour. Goldman Sachs estimates full removal could trigger $5.6 billion of passive outflows.
Hunger Pangs, which runs the vegetarian Burmese restaurant chain Burma Burma, has filed draft IPO papers for a ₹150 crore fresh issue plus an offer for sale. Its FY26 revenue rose 46.6% to ₹155.5 crore, but net loss widened to ₹15.4 crore from ₹50 lakh as expansion costs climbed. It returned to profit in Q1 FY27.
Asian stock markets opened sharply lower on October 19 after a brutal week for chipmakers, with South Korea's Kospi down as much as 3.2% and Japan's Nikkei falling more than 2% early, before trimming losses. Investors are questioning whether the vast borrowing behind AI infrastructure can deliver returns.
Between 550,000 and 800,000 people joined cost-of-living protests across France on October 17. While most marches were peaceful, rioters set fire to public buildings and looted shops, including on the Champs-Élysées, leading to well over 1,000 arrests. The euro weakened as investors weighed the political fallout.
India's microfinance industry shrank 7.6% to ₹3.26 trillion by end-June 2026 as borrower numbers fell 15% to 65.4 million and legacy defaults climbed to 17.4%, Sa-Dhan data shows. Smaller lenders say funding remains scarce, and a Nabard survey suggests more households are turning back to informal credit.
Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda told parliament on October 19 that underlying inflation is "quite close" to the central bank's 2% target, citing strong global AI demand and a tight labour market. He warned that failing to adjust rates appropriately could push up long-term yields. Markets expect a hold at 1.25% on October 30.
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India, which is already raising annual capacity from 6.25 million to about 8 million units by 2028, is considering further expansion. Chief executive Tsutsumu Otani says 8 million "may not be enough" as India's two-wheeler market heads for 22 to 23 million units this year.
Punjab National Bank expects to sign a memorandum of understanding with an unnamed foreign bank to collaborate on financing mergers and acquisitions within 10 to 15 days, managing director Ashok Chandra said. The state-run lender expects to finance at least one or two M&A transactions in the October-December quarter.