Reuters Qatar’s stock market sank to a 19-month low on Monday while other regional bourses were mixed in mostly quiet trade, although Saudi British Bank surged in Riyadh. The Qatari stock index dropped 1.6 percent to 8,532 points, its lowest finish since January 2016, in a broad sell-off that saw declining stocks outnumber gainers by 27 to nine. Qatar National …

Bloomberg IndusInd Bank Ltd., the Indian lender pursuing a takeover of Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd., is negotiating a potential deal valuing the microfinance provider at about $2.2 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter. IndusInd, backed by the billionaire Hinduja brothers, is discussing a valuation of around 1,040 rupees per Bharat Financial share, according to the people. That …

Bloomberg China plans to ban trading of bitcoin and other virtual currencies on domestic exchanges, dealing another blow to the $150 billion cryptocurrency market after the country outlawed initial coin offerings. The ban will only apply to trading of cryptocurrencies on exchanges, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the information is private. …

Bloomberg Traders who have placed bullish bets on the pound may find their nerves tested this week, with sterling likely to buffeted by everything from Brexit to the Bank of England. Sterling posted its biggest weekly gain versus the dollar since June, benefiting from a falling dollar after dovish comments from Federal Reserve officials and ongoing tensions with North Korea. …

Bloomberg Egypt’s inflation eased in August, signaling that the surge in prices after the government’s latest round of subsidy cuts may have peaked. The annual rate for urban areas dropped to 31.9 percent in August from 33 percent in the previous month, according to data released by the official statistics agency on Sunday. Prices rose 1.1 percent on the month, …

Bloomberg European Central Bank Executive Board member Benoit Coeure warned that the rising euro could depress inflation unless it’s offset by a strengthening economy, bolstering the case for keeping monetary policy loose for an extended period. “Exogenous shocks to the exchange rate, if persistent, can lead to an unwarranted tightening of financial conditions with undesirable consequences for the inflation outlook,” …

Bloomberg India’s inflation is seen accelerating in the final reading on consumer prices before the central bank decides on interest rates next month, complicating matters for Governor Urjit Patel amid increasing evidence that economic growth is weak. Consumer prices probably rose 3.24 percent in August from a year earlier, according to the median of 36 estimates in a Bloomberg survey …

Bloomberg Here’s something else for policy makers to worry about as they attempt to engineer a soft landing in Australia’s property market. The country’s lenders could be sitting on $402 billion of “liar loans,” or mortgages obtained on inaccurate financial information, according to an estimate from UBS Group AG. A survey by the firm of 907 Australians who took out …

Bloomberg Embraer SA is likely to consider building a commercial-aircraft factory in China in two years, Chief Executive Officer Paulo Cesar de Souza e Silva said, marking a potential shift in strategy after the company shut down its private-jet plant in the Asian country in 2016. The Brazilian planemaker will wait for the rollout of its first E195-E2 aircraft in …

Bloomberg Indian budget airline SpiceJet Ltd. has begun an order contest between Boeing Co. and Airbus SE for wide-body aircraft, in the strongest indication yet that it will go ahead with a move into discount long-distance flights. The stock rose to their highest ever. The carrier is evaluating the U.S. manufacturer’s biggest 787-10 Dreamliner together with Airbus’s A350-1000, Ajay Singh, …