Capital markets news | Fri 19 Dec 2025
Do you know?
US Federal Reserve: Beyond setting policy rates, the Fed quietly provides large amounts of intraday credit—“daylight overdrafts”—to banks through their reserve accounts so payment and settlement systems like Fedwire can function smoothly, subject to caps and risk controls that most end users of the financial system never see.
Equity
- Hong Kong IPO market sparkles with busiest Dec in years Yahoo
- Hong Kong stock exchange plans to standardise trading units Edge Yahoo
- World-beating 55,000% surge in Indian AI stock fuels bubble fears Edge
- OpenAI discussed funding at USD750b value Edge NST
- DAWN raises USD13m in Series B for broadband network expansion Coindesk
Debt
- Samaiden’s ratings at A1, P1 affirmed RAM
- APM’s AA2 sukuk ratings affirmed RAM
- Polisea Labuan’s LECA rating upgraded to a+ RAM
- Foreign net purchases of Malaysian bonds persisted in Nov RAM
- Malaysia to hold 37 govt bond auctions in 2026, BNM calendar shows Edge
- World Bank’s IFC gives USD70m financing to XSD International Paper Edge
- SME Bank provided over RM50b in financing to MSMEs since 2005 Edge Star
- Singapore bonds break from Treasuries as haven demand grows Edge
- Vanke meeting bondholders under threat of default in just days Edge
- Goldman could buy part of Hong Kong builder New World’s loans Edge
- First Brands asks lenders for fresh cash of up to USD800m Edge
- Germany boosts debt sales to record EUR512b in spending push Edge
- EU leaders face crunch decision on using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine Edge
- Russia warns of claims to European banks over frozen assets Edge
Digital assets
- CIMB seeks entry into BNM’s digital asset hub Edge NST Star
- The great China bitcoin mining crackdown fell short of early claims Cointelegraph
- Bitcoin’s realised cap holds at record USD1t, casting doubt on 4-year cycle Coindesk
- Spot bitcoin ETFs record USD457m inflows in early positioning push Cointelegraph
- Altcoins plunge as bitcoin’s USD85k test triggers USD550m in liquidations Coindesk
- PayPal to use PYUSD stablecoin to fund AI infrastructure through USD.AI Coindesk
- Flood of new crypto ETPs expected in 2026 Coindesk
- WhiteFiber signs 10-year, 40MW colocation with Nscale at USD865m value Coindesk
- ECB’s Christine Lagarde shifts focus to digital euro rollout Coindesk
M&A
- CTOS Digital sells 26% of Experian Information Services for RM80m Edge Star
- Yinson Renewables acquires 94.6MW New Zealand wind farm Edge NST Star
- MidOcean completes acquisition of 20% of Petronas’ key entities in Canada Edge Star
- Chinese brokerage CICC announces merger with Dongxing and Cinda Yahoo
- Elliott wooing Toyota Industries investors in buyout fight Edge
- Mizuho Securities to acquire majority stake in India’s Avendus Capital Yahoo
- India’s competition regulator clears Coinbase’s minority stake in CoinDCX Yahoo
- TikTok signs deal to sell US unit to American investor-led venture Yahoo
- Coursera to buy Udemy, creating USD2.5b firm to target AI training Yahoo
- Fifth Third-Comerica deal gets green light from OCC Yahoo
- Community West, United Security to merge in USD191.9m deal Yahoo
- Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader to merge, creating USD3.6b law firm Yahoo
- Trump Media, fusion power firm TAE combine in USD6b deal Edge Yahoo
- US-based Soteria buys Canadian packaging producer Imaflex Yahoo
- Creative Planning has agreed to buy UK-based RIA Maseco Yahoo
- India’s Captain Fresh nets Spanish tuna business Yahoo
Malaysia
- Ringgit likely to strengthen further, hit 4.00 against USD by end-2026 Edge
- Malaysia’s growth model may be losing momentum NST
- Cultural and creative industry contributes 6.8% to 2024 GDP Edge
- Malaysians now more optimistic about economy and spending power Edge
- Malaysia stands out globally for public trust in tax system NST
- Govt freezes toll hikes in 2026, to bear RM591.6m costs Edge
- Loss-making Sabah GLCs with no turnaround prospects to face closure Edge
- Gadang JV signs 25-year PPA with Sabah Electricity for 15MW solar project Edge Star
Other markets
- Taiwan holds benchmark rate as economy roars on AI frenzy Edge
- Japan to raise tax-free income threshold to ease inflation squeeze Edge
- Trump says next US Fed chair will believe in lower interest rates by a lot Mail
- Fed unveils big bank supervision manual in bid for transparency Edge
- Fed terminates Citi notices that demand bank improve risk controls Star
- US consumer prices likely posted largest annual increase in 1½ years Edge NST
- US core CPI eases to 4-year low in shutdown-impacted report Edge
- Economists caution taking CPI inflation data seriously Yahoo
- US weekly jobless claims fall as seasonal volatility persists Edge
- Wanxiang to pay USD53m to resolve US probe into imported auto parts Yahoo
- Bank of Mexico makes 12th consecutive interest-rate cut Yahoo
- Bolivia declares economic emergency and hikes diesel 160% Edge
- Bank of England lowers rates after tight vote Edge Yahoo
- ECB holds rates with growth firmer and inflation near target Edge Yahoo
- Lagarde says AI is having positive impact on Europe’s economy Edge
- EDF raises budget for new French nuclear plants to EUR73b Edge
- Norway keeps interest rate at 4% with at least 1 cut seen next year Edge
- Sweden’s Riksbank holds key rate steady, no changes expected Yahoo