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Daily Update — October 29, 2026

China's Green Finance Momentum; Hong Kong Stablecoin; and US Growth Outpaces Rivals

Today is Thursday, October 29, 2026, and here’s your curated selection of Essential Intelligence on global markets from S&P Global. Subscribe to be notified of each new Daily Update.

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Energy Expansion

Listen: Sustainability leader Ma Jun unpacks China's green finance momentum, energy transition

 

In this episode of the “All Things Sustainable” podcast, hosts Lindsey Hall and Esther Whieldon sat down with Ma Jun to discuss sustainable finance trends in China and beyond.

 

Ma is the former chief economist at the People’s Bank of China and was a lead architect of the country's first green finance guidelines and green bond standard. He also served as co-chair of the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group.

 

In the interview, Ma explained why sustainable finance has grown significantly in China and globally, and highlighted examples of scaling green technology. In China, for example, Ma said that 60% of car sales are electric vehicles.

Digital Assets

Digital Assets Brief: HSBC's Retail Franchise Will Accelerate Hong Kong Stablecoin Adoption

 

HBAP, HSBC’s Hong Kong subsidiary, launched RedCoin, Hong Kong's first stablecoin for public use, on Oct. 23. Users of HSBC’s PayMe app can make instant peer-to-peer transfers and direct peer-to-merchant payments using the stablecoin.

 

S&P Global Ratings expects HBAP to drive adoption through its retail scale and access to more than 3.3 million users and over 100,000 merchants. Integrating RedCoin into PayMe helps overcome customer acquisition challenges. Later in 2026, HBAP plans to add stablecoin wallet functionality to its mobile banking app and enable subscriptions to tokenized investment products using RedCoin. The initiative will broaden the bank's product suite, generate additional fee income and strengthen client engagement, S&P Global Ratings said.

Economy

US sees growth surge outpace rivals, but also reports higher inflationary pressures

 

S&P Global’s October flash Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) surveys signaled continued growth across the four largest advanced economies, led by a substantial US outperformance. Although the G4 expansion eased, it remained the second-strongest since April 2022, with the UK, eurozone and Japan also showing resilience despite geopolitical uncertainty and higher energy prices.

 

Price pressures nevertheless remained elevated across all four economies, with US selling price inflation notably reaching its highest since August 2022. Strong US hiring also contrasted with broadly stalled employment elsewhere, heightening the risk of second-round US inflation effects. Resilient growth and persistent inflation therefore send a hawkish signal to policymakers, particularly in the US.

In case you missed it

  • Soybean futures prices on the Chicago Board of Trade fell in Asian trading Oct. 26 after Brazil's real weakened sharply against the US dollar following President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's election victory, boosting expectations for stronger Brazilian soybean export competitiveness.
  • The UK government could grant licenses to a small number of "urgent" tieback projects — designed to extend lifespans of existing oil and gas fields — before new tieback legislation is introduced, according to an intergovernmental letter released Oct. 26, in the latest sign of a shifting energy approach from Prime Minister Andy Burnham's government.
  • Global refinancing activity remained strong in the third quarter as borrowers reduced speculative-grade nonfinancial maturities in 2027 and 2028 by 18% and 14%, respectively.

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