Global Stock Markets

Accel has closed a $550 million early-stage fund for India as part of a coordinated $3.5 billion global fundraising effort across four separate vehicles. The new India fund, which is Accel's ninth for the country, was oversubscribed and closed within weeks despite the firm retaining more than 50% of its previous $650 million India vehicle. Accel does not expect to begin deploying capital from the new $550 million fund until 2027, continuing instead to draw from its earlier pool of dry powder. The broader $3.5 billion raise also includes an $1.35 billion global expansion fund, alongside $800 million dedicated to the US and another $800 million for Europe and Israel. While the US and European funds grew from their prior vintages, the new India fund is $100 million smaller than its predecessor.

scmp.com reports that Hong Kong's life insurers are projected to maintain annual premium growth of 8 to 10 per cent over the next two years according to S&P Global Ratings. This expansion persists despite a regulatory shift arising from Beijing's overseas taxation rules and heightened enforcement by local tax authorities. S&P notes that while mainland Chinese customers may temporarily slow their purchases while reassessing offshore investments, underlying demand for multi-currency asset diversification and wealth management remains intact. Interest-rate differentials, healthcare needs, and protection gaps among Hong Kong's aging population continue to support the sector. Cross-border information sharing under the Common Reporting Standard has simultaneously made offshore assets increasingly visible to regulators.

scmp.com reports that Chinese banks are testing corporate loans priced against short-term market funding costs instead of the traditional loan prime rate. Bank of China has rolled out these repo-linked corporate loans in Shanghai, Ningbo, Fujian, Hebei, and Henan. The new mechanism shifts pricing from the monthly loan prime rate to the overnight or seven-day depository-institutions repo rate. Because the repo rate is derived from actual short-term interbank transactions, it directly reflects bank liquidity and funding costs. This transition aims to make borrowing rates more responsive to monetary conditions while exposing lenders to greater interest-rate volatility.