South Asia

Reliance Industries in India and Google announced tie-ups in artificial intelligence for consumers and businesses, including a free 18-month subscription to Google's Gemini AI Pro Platform, as part of a push to increase AI adoption in India. The companies have announced that the offer, currently priced at 35.100 rupees (about $399) for 18 months will allow Jio users to access the latest Gemini 2. Pro model, 2TB of cloud storage and its image and videos generation models. OpenAI announced a few days earlier that it would provide users with ChatGPT Go access for a full year in India. India's AI...

India announced on Thursday that the U.S. had granted it a six-month waiver of sanctions to operate Chabahar's Iranian port. This will help New Delhi to boost its trade with Afghanistan and Central Asian nations, bypassing Pakistan. Last year, India signed a contract for 10 years with Iran. Develop and operate a port This month, the United States has increased its cooperation with Taliban-run Afghanistan. Reopening of its Embassy Kabul was closed in 2021 after the Islamist group took power following the withdrawal by the U.S. led NATO forces. Initially, the port was planned to be built on Iran's Gulf...

The oil prices were stable on Wednesday, as investors weighed the optimism surrounding a meeting of the top two consumers in the U.S.A. and China with the expected rise in production quotas at the next OPEC+ summit. Brent crude futures rose 11 cents or 0.2% to $64.51 a barge at 1020 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate Crude futures climbed 6 cents or 0.1% to $60.21. China's Foreign Ministry said Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet U.S. president Donald Trump in Busan, South Korea on Thursday. The statement said that the meeting will "inject new energy into the development U.S. China...

Two sources familiar with this matter confirmed on Tuesday that Hindustan Petroleum, India's largest oil company, has issued two unusual tenders for the importation of transport fuels in early November. One source said that the company wanted to deliver 34,000 tonnes of gasoline and 65,000 tonnes of gasoil between November 1 and 10, at Mundra port on the west coast of India. The company didn't immediately respond to an inquiry for a comment about the tenders. Second source: "Operational issues" at the Mumbai refinery of the company prompted the tenders to close on Tuesday. In a Monday statement, the company...

In late June, Indonesian soldiers wearing fatigues entered a palm oil plantation in Borneo and displayed a sign declaring that the estate was under government control. The Melati Hanjalipan Plantation is a perfect example of a military-backed takeover which has shocked the 16 million-strong workforce and the world's largest palm oil producer. Agrinas Palma Nusantara is the new state-owned palm oil firm that has a land area of 9.1 million acres. Nearly half was transferred to it, making it the largest palm oil company in terms of size. This crackdown, ordered by the President Prabowo Subianto, is the largest structural...

Oil prices fell on Monday as worries about a global glut grew, while tensions between the U.S. and China over trade added to fears of an economic slowdown. Brent crude futures dropped 53 cents or 0.86% to $60.76 a barrel as of 0610 GMT. U.S. West Texas intermediate futures also fell 55 cents or 0.96% to $56.99 erasing Friday's gains. The International Energy Agency has forecast a growing glut of supply in 2026, which is partly responsible for the declines. Toshitaka Takawa, an economist at Fujitomi Securities, said that fears of a slowdown in the economy due to increased U.S....

Investor sentiment is expected to be boosted by better-than-expected earnings of top lenders, as well as positive global signals on the easing of China-U.S. Trade tensions. Gift Nifty futures traded at 25,980.5 as of 7:56 am IST. This indicates that the benchmark Nifty will open above its one-year close of 25,709.85. HDFC Bank, India's largest private sector lender, and ICICI Bank, India's second-largest private sector lender by assets, reported on Saturday that they had achieved higher profits than expected for the third quarter. Reliance Industries, on the other hand, missed its quarterly profit forecasts due to weakness in its oil-to-chemicals...

Reliance Industries, owned by Indian billionaire Mukesh Amani, posted a 9.7% increase in its quarterly profit on Thursday, largely due to a strong performance in the company's core energy business. The steady growth of digital services was also credited. The quarter ended 30 September saw a profit of 181.65 billion rupies ($2.06 billion), compared to 165.63 rupies a year earlier. Reliance's earnings are boosted by higher crude prices, a robust fuel market and a rise in margins for its oil-to chemicals business. Ambani is also accelerating his strategic shift to consumer and digital ventures. Mukesh Amani said that the oil...

Egypt's Foreign Minister said that the Palestinian issue was crucial to progressing in the U.S.-funded transport project connecting India to Europe by sea and rail via the Middle East. The India-Middle East Economic Corridor was announced in September 2023 on the sidelines of a meeting of leaders of the Group of 20 leading economies. It was seen as a U.S. rival to China's Belt and Road initiative on global infrastructure. A month after the announcement of the decision, war broke out in response to the attack by the Palestinian Islamist Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023. "We must remember...

India's equity benchmarks reversed their early losses on Friday. The Nifty 50 reached a new high of one year, with gains from Reliance Industries before its results, outweighing losses by Infosys, and Wipro. Both companies fell due to margin concerns, despite strong earnings. As of 10:36 am IST, the Nifty 50 index rose by 0.42%, to 25,693.3. This is its highest level since October 1, 2024. The BSE Sensex also increased by 0.50%, to 83887.58. Both indexes dropped about 0.2% when they opened. The benchmarks reached a three-month high on Thursday and are now less than 3% off their record...

Three merchant bankers familiar with the matter on Friday said that a decline in corporate bond rates in secondary market following a dovish policy encouraged three state-run companies to raise approximately 77.50 trillion rupees ($880.5 millions) through bonds sales. Hindustan Petroleum, a state-run company, plans to raise 50 billion rupees. Bharat Petroleum plans to raise 20 billion rupees. The bankers said that both oil marketing companies will be looking to issue bonds with a maturity of five years or less in the next few days. North Eastern Electric Power Corp. (NEEPCO), a subsidiary wholly owned by NTPC, would like to...

Sources with knowledge of the issue said that India intends to reduce imports of liquefied gas from the Middle East, as its state refiners seek to increase purchases from the U.S. This will help New Delhi in its efforts to secure a wider trade agreement with Washington. Sources who spoke under condition of anonymity said that the state refiners had already informed their traditional LPG suppliers in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates about the expected reduction in LPG sales. It is not clear how much LPG India will reduce from the Middle East, but a report in July...

Rakshit Hardgave, the former Birla Opus CEO, was named as Britannia Industries' new CEO on Wednesday. He succeeds Rajneet Kohli, who retired in March. This management change is occurring as Indian consumer goods manufacturers are facing a period of tax rate reductions and changing demand trends. There is also pressure on margins to maintain growth and protect them. Britannia shares rose by about 25% when Kohli took over the company in September 2022. Hargave is set to take over Britannia as of December 15, according to the biscuit maker 'Good Day. Grasim Industries announced earlier that day his resignation from...

India's Grasim Industries announced a higher profit for the second quarter on Wednesday. This was due to a greater demand for its chemical products. The Aditya Birla Group company posted an 8.05 billion rupee ($91.59 millions) profit for the period July-September, up from 7.21 milliards rupees the previous year. Revenue rose by 23% to 96.10 trillion rupees. Grasim’s chemicals business, which accounts for about a quarter, grew to 23,99 billion rupees in revenue, an increase of 17% from a previous year. The company's standalone numbers do not include earnings from its subsidiaries UltraTech Cement or Aditya Birla Capital. Grasim has...

Dennis Grimm has left Thyssenkrupp’s steel division, according to two sources familiar with the situation. The unit is now without its leader, as the talks about a possible sale to India’s Jindal Steel International are still ongoing. Grimm is the spokesperson of Thyssenkrupp Steel Europe (TKSE), or its defacto CEO, as of August 30, 2024. This was after former CEO Bernhard Osburg resigned following a conflict with Thyssenkrupp leadership regarding strategy. TKSE declined to comment. Sources say that Grimm's departure coincides with Thyssenkrupp deepening its talks with Jindal Steel International about a possible sale of TKSE. A delegation from the...

Sany Heavy Industry's shares rose up to 4.7% on their Hong Kong debut Tuesday, after the Chinese construction equipment maker raised HK$12.36bn ($1.59bn) in one the biggest listings in the city this year. According to the prospectus, this company was founded in 1994 and is part of the Sany Group. It is now China's leading construction machinery manufacturer, and ranks among the top three worldwide. Sany, which manufactures excavators and concrete machinery as well as road construction equipment and cranes, operates 16 production bases in different countries and sells its products to more than 150. The stock price opened at...

Gold prices fell Monday as investors awaited the outcome of major central bank meetings later this week to get a sense of monetary policy. As of 0158 GMT, spot gold was down by 0.7%, at $4,082.77 an ounce. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery fell 1% to $4095.80. The U.S. Dollar rose to its highest level in more than two weeks against the Japanese yen. This made gold more expensive for holders of other currencies. On Sunday, the top Chinese and U.S. economists hammered out the framework for a trade agreement that U.S. president Donald Trump and Chinese president Xi...

The gold price slightly recovered on Wednesday after the sharpest drop since 2020 the previous session. Investors bought on the dip amid economic uncertainty and the expectation of U.S. interest rate cuts. As of 0803 GMT, spot gold was up by 0.3% to $4,134.37 an ounce. U.S. Gold Futures for December Delivery climbed almost 1% to $4147.10 an ounce. Bullion, which reached multiple records this year, fell to $4,003.39 in the early session. This extended losses following a 5.3% drop on Tuesday, when it marked its biggest daily decline since August 2020. StoneX analyst Rhona o'Connell stated that "that correction...

On Tuesday morning, most Gulf stock markets were up, following the Asian benchmarks. This was due to a possible easing in U.S. China trade tensions. Saudi Arabia's index, however, fell because of disappointing corporate earnings. Dubai's main stock index rose by 0.3% with the top lender Emirates NBD advancing 1.9%. RBL announced on Saturday that ENBD would buy 60% of the Indian private lender RBL Bank, the largest acquisition of its kind in India's finance sector. The index in Abu Dhabi rose 0.3%. This was due to a 0.3% increase by investment company Multiply Group after the board of its...

JSW Steel, India's largest steelmaker, reported a four-fold increase in its second-quarter profits on Friday. A surge in sales volumes outweighed the impact of lower price. Mumbai-based company’s net profit for the third quarter ended 30 September was 16.23 billion rupees, or about $185 million. This is higher than the profit of 4.39 billion rupees from a year earlier. The company announces its first quarterly results, which show that steel prices have dropped despite the Indian Government's tariffs on certain steel products. Sajjan Jindal's company posted a 20% increase in sales for the quarter. Capacity utilization in India, their key...

The physical gold market in Asia was very strong during this week. Prices broke multiple records and premiums in India reached their highest levels in more than a decade, ahead of the major festivals in this month. Gold prices in the spot market surpassed $4300 an ounce on Thursday for the first. They have gained 7.6% over this past week, amid renewed U.S. China trade tensions, and anticipation of a U.S. interest rate cut. This week, the domestic gold price in India reached a new record of 131 699 rupees for 10 grams. Indian dealers quoted premiums Up to $25...

HSBC raised its forecast for the average price of gold in 2025 to $3,355 from $3,215 because of safe-haven demand fueled by geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty. In a note from October 15, the bank stated that "sentiment is bullish" as it expects rallies to continue into 2026, aided both by buying from the official sector and demand for gold among institutions as a diversifier. HSBC has also increased its forecast for the average 2026 gold price to $3.950 from $3.125. GOLD HITS A NEW RECORD HIGH HSBC reported that the demand for gold is increasing due to mounting fiscal...

India's steelmills only obtained about half their metallurgical coal needs from domestic suppliers during the first half 2025. This highlights shortages, and intensifies their calls for a easing of the import restrictions on this key steelmaking material. India produced 1.5 millions metric tons between January and June of metallurgical coal, but the demand was almost double at 3.09million tons, according to an insider and government data. India, which is the second largest crude steel producer in the world, implemented import restrictions on metallurgical coal in January, to stimulate the industry. In June, the country extended its curbs by setting country-specific...

India's silver prices are significantly higher than global averages, as India is the world's largest consumer of precious metals. This is due to the soaring demand for the metal from investors. Exchange-traded funds with physical backing have suspended new subscriptions after the premium jumped up to 10%. Jewellers struggle to meet the strong demand for silver ahead of Diwali - the Hindu festival when purchases of the metal are traditionally high. Why is there a shortage of silver? The global silver demand has been outpacing supply over the last four years. This is a result of the five-year surplus that...