Bitcoin climbed back above $82,500 on October 19, up about 1% in 24 hours after falling below $80,000 last week. But US spot Bitcoin ETFs saw about $228 million of outflows from October 12 to 16, Ether ETFs lost $320 million, and uncertainty ahead of the Fed's October 27-28 meeting kept the rebound fragile.
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.
India spends about $18 billion a year on research and development, or 0.65% of GDP, and must raise that to at least $100 billion to compete in strategic technologies, Peak XV Partners managing director Rajan Anandan said. He also called for smarter regulation, citing "regulatory cholesterol" that slows founders down.
Australian plumbing supplies group Reliance Worldwide said on October 19 that a go-shop period under its agreed takeover by Brookfield ended without a rival proposal, despite extensive engagement with potential buyers. The board reaffirmed its unanimous support for the US$2.53 billion deal at US$3.38 a share.
As the 2026 IMF-World Bank annual meetings wrapped up in Bangkok, officials urged governments to cut deficits, replace blanket subsidies with targeted support and prepare for AI's impact on jobs. Asia produced a record 68% of global growth this year, but rising food prices and multi-decade-high bond yields cloud the outlook.
Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport reopened on October 18 after closing because of Houthi attacks from Yemen, but many airlines have extended suspensions. Air India, Air India Express and IndiGo have halted Saudi services until October 24, affecting Indian workers and pilgrims, while Cathay Pacific has suspended Riyadh until January 2027.
India accounts for only about 1% of the global green finance market, compared with roughly 45% for the European Union, according to an analysis by lawyer Rajesh Narain Gupta. The absence of a statutory green taxonomy, a ban on differential rates for green deposits and costly disclosure rules are slowing the flow of capital to climate projects.
Reliance Communications' resolution professional has filed a curative petition in the Supreme Court seeking a recall of its February ruling that spectrum held by telecom companies cannot be part of insolvency proceedings. The petition argues the decision leaves lenders without the asset they lent against and could extend to mining leases and other state licences.
Chinese perovskite solar maker Microquanta has signed a strategic cooperation agreement worth a planned RMB 1.5 billion with data centre developer Xinpu Tuling Technology to integrate solar panels into rooftops and façades at a green computing project in Xining, Qinghai, which has a total planned investment of about RMB 13 billion.
Indian lenders are moving beyond credit bureau scores to combine GST filings, bank transactions shared through account aggregators and other real-time data, says Ashok Hariharan, founder of identity verification platform IDfy. Digital onboarding has transformed the front end of lending, he says, but back-end processes have changed far less.