JPMorgan misses profit forecasts for the first time in nearly three years as bond trading slips, while Goldman, Citi and Wells Fargo earn more

The rest of the day

36 more stories on this beat.

Each with its own sources. None of these is a link to the story above.

1. 02

   China's exports jump 36%, a record surplus

   China's exports rose 36.3% in September from a year earlier, the fastest since February, official figures showed on Wednesday. [10] Imports rose 31%. [10] That left a trade surplus, exports minus imports, of $133.5 billion, a record for one month, said an economist at Guotai Junan, a Chinese broker. [10] Demand for parts for AI data centres helped drive it. [10] By CNBC's count, the value of circuit boards sold abroad rose 136%, while the number sold rose only 1%. [10]

   +136%Value of boards sold

   vsvs

   +1%Number of boards sold

   Why it matters — Europe is pushing back: the EU and China agreed in a first deal on Friday to cap Chinese hybrid car imports at 350,000 a year. [11] Goldman Sachs says Chinese firms often earn more abroad than at home, which lets them undercut local rivals. [12]

2. 03

   China's factory prices rise fastest since 2022

   Prices charged by China's factories rose 5% in September from a year earlier, the fastest in more than four years. [13] Economists had expected 4.5%. [13] Dearer fuel pushed up costs, and China's statistics bureau said coal prices rose too. [13] Shop prices rose only 0.9%, just below the 1% expected, as food prices fell 1.7%. [13] China's economy grew 4.3% in April to June, its slowest in more than three years. [13]

   Why it matters — An economist at Guotai Junan said the falling prices China saw in 2024 and 2025 are fading. [13] The weak shop prices show its own shoppers are still spending little, an economist at Pinpoint Asset Management said. [13]

3. 04

   Bank of America fined $1.2 billion

   The US Treasury fined Bank of America, the second-biggest US bank, more than $1.2 billion on Tuesday. [14] It said the bank failed for years to report over $5 billion of suspicious payments, some linked to Chinese money-laundering networks. [14][15] The bank admitted it wilfully broke the Bank Secrecy Act, the US law that makes banks report such payments. [14] The $750 million share from the Comptroller of the Currency, a banking watchdog, is the largest it has ever imposed. [15]

   Why it matters — The fine cuts about 17 cents from each share's profit in results due on Wednesday. [15] The US Treasury said the bank had left police and other banks to spot crimes for it. [15]

4. 05

   Bank of America loses senior dealmakers

   Bank of America has lost several senior dealmakers over the past year, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter. [16] One of its most senior women bankers, Amy Lissauer, was weighing a move to JPMorgan, and the bank's boss, Brian Moynihan, failed to keep her. [16] Three departures were announced in a single week in August. [16] Executives then reached out to staff to promise big ambitions and more hiring. [16]

   Why it matters — Its investment bank has slipped a place in the rankings of banks by deals handled. [16] Moynihan warned in September that its fees from deals would fall more than 10% this quarter. [4]

5. 06

   JPMorgan shuts out outside AI agents

   JPMorgan will not let outside AI agents, programs that act for a person online, log in to customers' accounts, Jamie Dimon said on Tuesday. [17] He warned of 'rogue agents', possibly thousands of them. [17] The bank is testing its own tool, Smart Cash, which forecasts a customer's cash and moves it to earn more interest. [17] It fought a similar fight with apps like Plaid over customer data, and began charging them for access. [17]

   Why it matters — Tech firms including Meta are releasing assistants that can act on their own. [17] Dimon said customers who use outside agents must understand the risks, including who is responsible if something goes wrong. [17]

6. 07

   IMF warns of a sudden jump in bond rates

   The IMF, which lends to countries in trouble, warned on Tuesday that government borrowing rates could rise in a 'disorderly' way. [18][20] Its Global Financial Stability Report blamed dear energy, expected rate rises and the extra return lenders now demand for long loans. [18] It said heavy AI borrowing competes with governments for the same lenders. [18] It also named a sharp fall in AI shares, and cyber attacks, as risks to the financial system. [19]

   Why it matters — A jump in rates would cut the value of government bonds that banks and funds hand over as security in other deals, the IMF said. [18] Its staff said cyber attacks are a bigger danger in poorer markets that spend little on defence. [19]

7. 08

   IMF says poor oil importers must cut spending

   Many low-income countries have 'no choice' but to cut spending, Petya Koeva Brooks, a senior IMF researcher, told AFP in Bangkok on Tuesday. [21] The hardest hit buy their oil abroad and have no part in the AI building boom, the IMF says. [21] In some African countries, debt payments now take 30% to 50% of tax income. [22] African finance ministers want faster debt deals and an end to extra charges on IMF loans. [22]

   Why it matters — Where a debt cannot be paid, an early, orderly restructuring costs less than waiting, Koeva Brooks said. [21] That leaves less money for hospitals, roads and schools, Africanews reported. [22]

8. 09

   BlackRock moves from shares into US bonds

   BlackRock, the world's biggest fund manager with $15.3 trillion to invest, now favours US government bonds over US shares. [23] It had held fewer of those bonds than usual for most of six years. [23] The 10-year US rate has risen about 1.1 points this year to 5.25%, and BlackRock said it wants to 'lock in' that income. [23] It cut US shares to neutral, partly to take profits. [23]

   Why it matters — BlackRock also said traders expecting 1.6 more points of US rate rises within a year have gone too far. [23] That is why it prefers short bonds, which gain most if those rises do not come. [23]

9. 10

   US borrowing rates dip before price figures

   The 10-year US government borrowing rate fell to about 5.19% on Tuesday as oil prices eased. [24] That rate guides the cost of many US mortgages and car loans. [24] Traders were waiting for September's US price figures, due on Wednesday. [25] Economists polled by Dow Jones expect prices 3.6% higher than a year earlier, up from 3.4% in August. [25] Gold held near $4,159 an ounce on Wednesday. [26]

   Why it matters — A figure above forecasts would make it harder for the US central bank to treat dear oil as a one-off, an economist at PGIM said. [25]

10. 11

    US central bank officials differ on 2027

    John Williams heads the New York branch of the Federal Reserve, the US central bank. [27] He said on Tuesday he sees one more rate rise this year and no need for more in 2027. [27] Traders put about 90% odds on rates ending 2027 at least half a point higher. [27] Christopher Waller, a Fed governor, said rising bond rates reflect stronger growth, not fear of inflation. [28] Austan Goolsbee of the Chicago branch warned this week that AI-driven price rises are spreading. [29]

    Why it matters — The US central bank meets at the end of October. [27] Its chair, Kevin Warsh, gives his last speech before that meeting on Thursday. [28]

11. 12

    Oil climbs to about $107 a barrel

    Brent crude, the world's main oil price, rose 1.2% to about $107 a barrel on Wednesday. [30] Fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis, a Yemeni armed group backed by Iran, kept worries about supply high. [30] On Tuesday the price had slipped below $106 as traders took profits. [31] Oil is up more than 70% this year. [31] Paul Tudor Jones, a well-known trader, said it could rise another $20 to $25. [32]

    Why it matters — Dearer oil could push the US price figures due on Wednesday higher still, an economist at RSM said. [25]

12. 13

    US chip shares fall for a sixth day

    A US fund that holds chip-maker shares fell for a sixth day in a row on Tuesday. [5] Micron, which makes memory chips, fell 3.6% by the close after a Chinese rival, CXMT, showed a new memory design. [3][34] The S&P 500 and Nasdaq share indexes fell for a second day, the Nasdaq by 0.2%. [5][3] Analysts expect chip makers' profits to rise 130% from a year earlier, against about 30% for all big US companies. [5]

    Why it matters — The fall has spread from Seoul and Tokyo to New York. [33] A fund strategist in Sydney said swinging bond prices, not chips alone, are now driving share prices. [33]

13. 14

    Big AI share sales loom over 2027

    Anthropic, an AI company, was due to show possible investors its July-to-September results for the first time on Wednesday, ahead of a planned share sale. [36] The listing could value it at $2 trillion, people familiar with the plans told CNBC. [36] Last week a lower-than-reported OpenAI revenue figure pulled chip shares down. [36] The investor Paul Tudor Jones says 2027 will be very hard for US shares as such sales add supply. [35]

    Why it matters — For years companies buying back their own shares cut the supply of stock. [35] Jones expects big AI listings and new share sales to reverse that, as in 1998 to 2002. [35]

14. 15

    An AI data-centre loan needs 11%

    Volta, an AI data-centre company founded in February, is borrowing $5 billion for a site in Norway, Semafor reported. [37] Some lenders pushed back, saying they already hold too much data-centre debt. [37] The loan is expected to pay at least 11%, unusually high for such a project, with Apollo, a big investment firm, taking $1.5 billion. [37] The rate falls if Anthropic, which will buy much of the site's computing, wins an investment-grade rating, the mark of a safe borrower. [37]

    Why it matters — About $450 billion of AI-related loans and bonds have been sold this year. [37] Deals still get done, bankers say, but at higher rates and on tougher terms than earlier in the year. [37]

15. 16

    Character.AI owes Google $4 million

    Character.AI, an app that lets people chat with AI characters, filed for bankruptcy protection in Delaware on Monday. [38] Court papers show it owes its 20 biggest unsecured creditors more than $10.6 million, including over $4 million to Google. [38] Five big law firms are owed $2.6 million between them. [38] It plans a court-run sale of the company by the end of the year. [38]

    Why it matters — Its founders came from Google, and it faced lawsuits saying its chatbots harmed young users. [38] It agreed to settle several of those suits earlier this year. [38]

16. 17

    UnitedHealth raises its profit forecast

    UnitedHealth Group, one of the biggest US health insurers, raised its forecast for 2026 profit to at least $20.50 a share on Tuesday. [39] It earned $4.69 a share in July to September, against $4.14 expected. [39] It paid out 88.4% of its premiums on medical care, better than analysts expected. [39] Its shares rose 2.8% before trading opened. [39]

    Why it matters — UnitedHealth has spent two years recovering from a huge cyber attack, missed targets and the killing of a senior boss. [39]

17. 18

    J&J's Gulf sales slow as budgets go to defence

    Johnson & Johnson, a US maker of medicines and medical devices, earned $2.59 a share in July to September, a little above forecasts. [40] Sales of its medicines rose 7.7%, but medical devices grew only 2.5%. [40] Its finance chief, Joe Wolk, said Gulf states such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are moving money to defence. [40] Spending cuts in Europe and pressure on prices in China also weighed. [40] Its shares fell 5.7%, the worst in the Dow index of 30 big US companies. [3]

    Why it matters — Wolk said the war has not yet raised J&J's own costs, but it has hurt its sales in the Gulf. [40]

18. 19

    Albertsons drops its forecast

    Albertsons, which runs Safeway and 21 other US grocery chains, withdrew its financial forecasts on Tuesday until a review of the business is done. [41] Its sales slipped to $18.9 billion, with sales at existing stores down 0.8%, the second fall in a row. [41] Meg Whitman, the former eBay boss who joined as executive chair last month, said 'everything should be on the table'. [41]

    Why it matters — Its shoppers are switching to cheaper store brands, or to Walmart and Kroger, as food and petrol cost more. [41] One retail analyst called its prices far higher than rivals'. [41]

19. 20

    London Stock Exchange owner eyes a $3.5bn deal

    The London Stock Exchange Group, which also sells financial data, confirmed on Tuesday it is in talks to buy Octus for about $3.5 billion. [42] Octus reports on companies in financial trouble for banks and investors. [42] Its owner, the private equity firm Permira, bought control in 2022 at a $1.3 billion value. [42] LSEG's shares fell 4.7%. [42]

    Why it matters — LSEG is under pressure to do better from Elliott, an activist investor that disclosed a stake in February. [42] Reuters, which reported the talks first, counts LSEG as its biggest customer. [42]

20. 21

    Bumble agrees a $1.3bn sale

    Bumble, a loss-making dating app, agreed on Tuesday to be bought for $1.3 billion by Ithaca Holdings, an investment firm. [43] Its shares jumped 56.6% on the day. [3] Ithaca's directors, Ravi Gupta and John Hegeman, will run it, and its founder, Whitney Wolfe Herd, says she will stay involved. [43] Bumble was worth more than $14 billion after it listed in 2021. [43]

    Why it matters — Younger users have cooled on dating apps, and Bumble has made a yearly profit only once since listing. [43] Tinder's owner, Match Group, has also seen its shares fall far from their 2021 peak. [43]

21. 22

    Visa wins China's approval for card payments

    Visa, the US card company, won approval from China's central bank to prepare a business clearing card payments inside China. [44] It has a year to finish that work and then must apply to start, China's Xinhua news agency said. [45] Visa first applied in May 2020. [44] Its rival Mastercard began processing payments in China in 2024 through a joint venture. [44]

    Why it matters — Until now China's own UnionPay has handled payments inside China on cards that carry Visa's name. [44] An analyst said the timing, before an expected Xi-Trump meeting next month, looks like a goodwill gesture. [45]

22. 23

    Six Flags shares sink after a fatal ride

    Shares in Six Flags, a US theme-park company, fell more than 14% on Tuesday after a rider died on a roller coaster. [46] The death happened on Monday on the Goliath ride at Six Flags Over Georgia, near Atlanta, and several people were hurt. [46] The company closed Goliath and nine similar rides at its parks. [46] Its shares are at their lowest since December 2009. [46]

    Why it matters — They had already fallen by more than half over the past year. [46]

23. 24

    Singapore grows 5.4%

    Singapore's economy grew 5.4% in July to September from a year earlier, beating the 5% economists expected. [47] Building work, including data centres, grew 8.8%. [48] Its central bank left its policy unchanged after tightening twice this year. [47] It steers the economy through the Singapore dollar's exchange rate rather than an interest rate. [47] Singapore's government expects 4.5% to 5.5% growth this year. [47]

    Why it matters — Singapore's central bank expects AI-driven growth to slow in the second half of 2027. [48] Singapore makes about a tenth of the world's chips, so it gains when AI spending rises. [48]

24. 25

    Philippine central bank braces for El Nino

    The Philippine central bank now plans for two kinds of El Nino, a Pacific weather pattern that can bring drought, including a 'Godzilla' one, its governor said. [49] Prices there rose 7.2% in September from a year earlier, with rice up 18%. [49] The Philippines is the world's biggest rice importer. [49] The bank raised its main rate to 5% in August, and HSBC expects another rise next week. [49]

    Why it matters — Bigger Philippine rice purchases could push up a world rice price that the UN's food agency has raised six months in a row. [49]

25. 26

    Hong Kong dollar presses against its limit

    The Hong Kong dollar is close to HK$7.85 to the US dollar, the weak end of the range Hong Kong allows. [50] To defend it, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority buys Hong Kong dollars, which drains the cash banks keep for paying each other. [50] That cash has fallen to HK$54 billion, a level crossed only once before, in 2023. [50] Higher US rates are pulling money toward the US dollar. [50]

    Why it matters — Strategists warn that even a small defence could make Hong Kong's borrowing costs jump. [50] The authority has told people to watch interest-rate risk on homes, investments and loans. [50]

26. 27

    Chile's pension funds lose on US rate bets

    Chile's seven private pension funds, which hold about $229 billion, are unwinding bets that US interest rates would keep falling. [51] Instead US rates rose, and the bets swung from a $1.4 billion gain a year ago to a $7.7 billion loss by September, Chile's pension regulator said. [51] New rules from 4 November force the funds to cut them. [51] Their safest funds have lost 10.4% this year. [51]

    +$1.4bnA year ago

    ↓→

    -$7.7bnThis September

    Why it matters — These funds hold the only retirement savings most Chileans have. [51] To get out, they must pay Bank of America, Citigroup and other banks on the other side of the trades. [51]

27. 28

    Indian shares have their best day in months

    India's Nifty 50 share index rose 1.6% on Tuesday, its biggest gain in more than two months, and the Sensex rose 1.5%. [52] Technology shares led after strong results from HCL Technologies, whose shares jumped 8.4%. [53] The finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, said India's government would hear investors' views on taxes on share profits and share trades. [52] She signalled no change. [52]

    Why it matters — Foreign investors have pulled $32 billion from Indian shares this year, so even a hint of tax relief lifted the mood. [54] They still sold on Tuesday, for a 13th trading day in a row. [65]

28. 29

    Jio's share sale draws $20 billion of bids

    Jio Platforms, the phone and digital arm of Reliance Industries, has drawn more than $20 billion in bids for what could be India's biggest share sale, Bloomberg reported. [55][54] It is aiming for a value of up to $108 billion, below earlier talk of $170 billion. [55] Fidelity, Allianz and Capital Group are among the interested funds. [55] All the money raised goes to the company, as no existing owner is selling. [55]

    Why it matters — Blackstone's president called India the easiest place to get a share sale done this year. [54]

29. 30

    Hyundai to invest $15.5bn in India

    Hyundai Motor Group, the South Korean car group, will invest $15.5 billion in India from 2026 to 2032. [56] Its chair, Euisun Chung, announced it after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. [56] The money goes to factories, research and local parts makers. [56] Car sales in India hit a monthly record of 439,000 in August, 36% more than a year earlier. [56]

    Why it matters — Hyundai is India's third-biggest car seller, behind Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra. [56] It can already build 1.4 million cars a year there, some of them for export. [56]

30. 31

    Indian bank sued for $15 billion

    B.R. Shetty, who founded NMC Healthcare and UAE Exchange, has asked the Bombay High Court for $15 billion in damages from Bank of Baroda, one of India's big banks, Mint reported. [57] He says bank officials helped the fraud that brought down his business empire. [57] The bank's shares fell 3% on Wednesday. [57] In July the bank settled an earlier fight with Shetty for $600 million. [57]

    Why it matters — The bank said it has not been served with the suit and will defend it firmly if it is. [57]

31. 32

    Indian brokers expect slower growth

    Trading in index options, contracts whose value rides on a share index, fell 27% on India's National Stock Exchange in July to September from the quarter before. [58] Share trading there fell 19%. [58] Analysts at Motilal Oswal expect that to slow revenue growth at brokers such as Groww and Angel One. [58] Those two earn 60% to 73% of their income from trading. [58] Commodity options on another exchange rose 15% as oil and gas prices swung. [58]

    Index options, NSE−27%

    Shares, NSE−19%

    Commodity options, MCX15%

    Why it matters — The brokers' income follows how much their customers trade. [58] Foreign selling and worry about the war have kept many investors away. [58]

32. 33

    Nigerian shares beat Korea's this year

    Nigeria's main share index is up 72% this year in US dollars, on track for its best year since 2007, against 54% for South Korea's Kospi. [59] Allan Gray, a Cape Town fund manager with $29 billion to invest, now prefers Nigerian shares. [59] It says Korea's rise rests on two memory-chip makers, while Nigeria's spans banks, oil, phone companies and industry. [59]

    Why it matters — Allan Gray says Nigeria offers a way to own shares that do not ride on the AI boom. [59]

33. 34

    Dangote extends his refinery share sale

    Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest man, extended the share sale in his Nigerian oil refinery to 27 October from Tuesday. [60] The refinery near Lagos can process 700,000 barrels a day and aims to raise $1.6 billion to double its size. [60] Dangote said demand was three to four times the target, and that he wants more Africans to buy shares. [60]

    Why it matters — If the expansion goes ahead, it would be the world's largest refinery, bigger than India's Jamnagar. [60]

34. 35

    Qatar's government income falls 42%

    Qatar's government revenue fell 42% in the first half of this year, its ruler, Sheikh Tamim, told its advisory Shura Council. [61] Its gas exports dropped because the Strait of Hormuz has been mostly shut and its Ras Laffan gas plant was attacked. [61] About 17% of its gas export capacity is still offline. [61] Spending fell 14%, but he said essential services were kept. [61]

    Why it matters — Qatar still plans $60.7 billion of investment over five years. [61] Before the war it was the world's second-biggest seller of liquefied gas. [61]

35. 36

    Dubai's price rises slow to 5%

    Prices in Dubai rose 5.03% in September from a year earlier, down from 5.54% in August and a 5.7% peak in June. [62] Fuel for cars cost 37.5% more than a year before. [62] But airfares fell 23% from August and holiday packages 12%, so prices fell slightly over the month. [62]

    Why it matters — The UAE sets petrol prices each month from world oil prices, so Dubai feels oil moves quickly. [62] Its private businesses grew at the fastest pace this year in September, a survey found. [62]

36. 37

    UK shop bosses ask for a cut in a jobs tax

    Bosses of Tesco, Costa Coffee, the Co-op, Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury's met John Healey, the UK's chancellor, its finance minister, on Tuesday. [63] They want employers to start paying national insurance, a tax on wages, only above GBP6,000 a year, up from GBP5,000. [63] They say the lower level helped cut high-street jobs for young people. [63] Healey's first budget is a little over two weeks away. [64]

    Why it matters — The IMF raised its UK growth forecast for this year to 1.3% on Tuesday. [64] Its chief economist told Healey to 'stay the course' on cutting government borrowing. [64]