Jio Platforms’ (JIOP.NS) $3.2 billion IPO launches on Wednesday, testing demand for India’s largest share sale to date and the first from billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance (RELI.NS) conglomerate in two decades.

The Jio Platforms IPO will be a crucial test of global appetite for fresh share offerings at a time when investors have tightened their examination of AI-related companies which some analysts think might see them shifting away from the technology.

Jio Platforms, the parent of India’s biggest telecom firm with over 500 million subscribers, backed by Meta, ​Google and institutional investors, is the world’s second-largest telecom operator in a single country behind China Mobile.

The IPO ​values Jio Platforms at up to $108.3 billion, possibly making it one of India’s biggest corporations by market valuation when ​trading kicks out on October 28. About a third of the shares on offer are allocated for retail investors.

Jio Platforms this week allocated $853 million worth of shares to global and local investors including Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and BlackRock, after the reserved part for such investors attracted bids of more than $25 billion.

LAUNCH DATES FESTIVE

Retail investors and Reliance’s employees and stockholders will get a chance to join in the offering that closes Friday and has a price range of 1,065 to 1,119 rupees a share.
The IPO is Reliance’s first since 2006 and is larger than previous huge offerings such as Hyundai Motor India (HYUN.NS), opens new tab, and National Stock Exchange (NSEI.BO).

The plans were also delayed in 2025, when Ambani first said he planned to list in five years in 2019. A filing in as early as March was stymied by the Iran war sapping IPO enthusiasm.

Ambani’s son Akash runs Jio Platforms’ telecom company, which started in 2016 with the gamble that Indians would use the internet a lot more if it cost virtually nothing. It quickly seized market share from rivals like Bharti Airtel (BRTI.NS), opens new tab and Vodafone Idea (VODA.NS), opens new tab with cheap data ​and free voice calls.

Jio Platforms is selling its IPO in the middle of a Hindu festive season, seen as a lucky time for buying, although Indian markets have been dull in recent weeks.

Reliance this month also paid pay cheques approximately 15 days early to its more than 400,000 employees and in recent weeks helped expedite share account opening services to people interested in applying for the IPO, said a person in the business with direct knowledge of the situation.

Reliance did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

For the year ending in March, Jio Platforms posted a profit of $3.2 billion on revenue of $15.5 billion. Its telecoms division alone accounted for over 90% of those figures.

— The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) kicked off on a bullish note on Tuesday with the benchmark KSE-100 Index rising more than 400 points in early trade.

The index rose to 166,425 points at the start of the second trading session of the business week, indicating better market performance.

The KSE-100 Index closed down 453 points at 165,966 points in the last trading session.

The benchmark index turned positive during early trading after falling in the previous session. The latest gains were made as the benchmark index went into positive territory during early trading.

The dollar rose from near its lowest levels of the month at the start of trading in Asia on Monday, as violent protests in France put pressure on the euro.

The euro was 0.1% down at $1.1225 at the start of Asian trading. The dollar index was most heavily weighted toward the common currency and its decline helped calm the greenback, which was trading flat at 101.83.

French President Emmanuel Macron criticised “shocking” displays of violence on the fringes of protests over the cost of living in a televised speech to the country on Sunday, a day after France had one of its worst days of unrest in years.‘The weekend disturbance does matter for the euro mostly through French bonds rather than directly,’ Kieran Williams, head of Asia FX at InTouch Capital Markets in London, said.
Bank ​of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said on Monday underlying inflation is “quite close” to the central bank’s 2% objective, with the US dollar unchanged at 158.00 yen on the yen.

The U.S. dollar was unchanged at 6.6842 yuan in offshore trade ahead of the announcement of Chinese third-quarter GDP statistics. China’s economy likely improved marginally in the time from a more-than three-year low.

A lot of attention in emerging market Asia will be on the Indonesian rupiah, after a ‎threat from ⁠MSCI to downgrade the nation’s stock market to “standalone” status last week sent shares into an 11.6% plunge. The rupiah closed at 18,000 versus the dollar on Friday, its lowest in nearly three months.

The Australian dollar was 0.3% higher at $0.6965 and the kiwi was steady at $0.5656. The British pound stayed steady at $1.3329.

Oil prices fell when Asian trade began on Monday, with Brent oil futures down 1.7% at $108.02, after US President Donald Trump waived sanctions and tariffs on Russia that may lead to additional Russian fuel shipments.