China's main share index falls 20% from its June peak into a bear market, and Hong Kong shares fall to a four-month low as hopes of more government help fade

The rest of the day

28 more stories on this beat.

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

1. 02

   Oil tops $112 on a report of new Iran strikes

   Brent crude, the main world oil price, rose 3.1% to $112.20 a barrel on Thursday morning. [15] US crude rose 2.8% to $99.86. [15] The New York Times reported that the US and Israeli militaries have drawn up plans for a short but intense new attack on Iran after the US midterm elections on 3 November. [15] President Trump has not approved the plan. [16] China drew down its oil stocks at a record 1.6 million barrels a day in September and still holds about 80 days of refinery needs, Kpler, a data firm, estimates. [16]

   Why it matters — Dearer oil lands hardest on Asia, which imports most of its fuel. [10] Chinese state refiners are likely to bid harder for Middle Eastern oil to refill their tanks, Kpler says. [16]

2. 03

   AI shares fall after a run of results

   Futures on the Nasdaq, the US index full of tech companies, fell 1.7% before New York opened on Thursday, after a run of AI company results disappointed investors. [14] Lam Research, which makes the machines that build computer chips, fell 8.5% before trading began after a weaker forecast. [14][8] South Korea's Kospi index, heavy with memory-chip makers, closed 3.5% lower. [14] An analyst at Quilter Cheviot, a fund manager, said expectations were so high that a company had to beat forecasts by a wide margin for its shares to rise. [14]

   Why it matters — Morgan Stanley expects AI building to cost $1.6 trillion in 2027 and to drive about a quarter of next year's sales growth at the 500 biggest US companies. [10] About two-thirds of the gains in that index since 2024 came from 42 AI companies, Fortune reports. [49]

3. 04

   Tesla cuts its spending plan, and its shares fall

   Tesla, the electric-car maker run by Elon Musk, beat forecasts with $28.05 billion of sales and 48 cents of profit a share in July to September. [18] Its operating profit still fell 56% from a year earlier, to $718 million, as spending on robots and AI rose. [19] It cut its 2026 spending plan to $20 billion from $25 billion. [12] Musk said robotaxis will add to sales only from mid-to-late 2027. [12] The shares fell about 3% after hours, and Samsung SDI, a battery supplier, fell 4.5% in Seoul. [12]

   Why it matters — Tesla's share price rests more on its plans for robots and self-driving cars than on car sales, which fell 3%. [18] A smaller spending plan raised questions about how fast those plans will arrive, a Deutsche Bank analyst said. [10]

4. 05

   Barclays cuts 5,000 jobs as its profit rises 12%

   Barclays, one of Britain's biggest banks, said it is cutting about 5,000 jobs this year, about 5% of its 93,000 staff. [20][22] About 60% of the cuts are in support roles, including software developers, and the bank says AI makes the staff it keeps more productive. [21] Its profit before tax rose 12% to 2.3 billion pounds in July to September, but that was below forecasts, because income from bond trading fell 19%. [20] It will also buy back another 500 million pounds of its own shares. [23]

   Why it matters — The cuts belong to a plan to save more than 1.1 billion pounds in 2027, and 1,000 jobs have already gone. [20][22] They come a week before the UK budget, where John Healey, the UK's finance minister, is expected to raise taxes on banks; Barclays' boss called the hit bearable. [20]

5. 06

   France pays more to borrow than the US

   The interest rate on France's ten-year government bonds rose above 5% on Thursday, its highest since 2002. [24][14] It reached 5.09%, above the 5.07% the US pays, for the first time since 2013. [20] The extra France pays over Germany, Europe's safest borrower, rose to 1.64 percentage points, the most since 2011. [14] France's government has still not passed next year's budget, and protests over living costs have turned into riots in several cities. [24]

   Why it matters — Some lenders, notably Japanese fund managers, have stopped lending to France, and the rest charge more. [24] French factory confidence rose to 105 in October, its highest since July 2022, but the survey was taken before last weekend's riots. [20]

6. 07

   Investors buy US government bonds for safety

   Investors bought US government bonds on Thursday as shares fell, which pushed the rate on the ten-year bond down about 0.07 percentage points to 5.07%. [17] Bond prices and rates move in opposite directions, so heavy buying lowers the rate. [17] That ten-year rate is the main guide for US mortgages, car loans and credit cards. [17] Gold fell 1% to just above $4,100 an ounce, and bitcoin, a digital currency, fell 3%. [14]

   Why it matters — The ten-year rate is the main guide for new US mortgages, so a day of fear in shares pulled that guide down. [17] Investors were also waiting for weekly US figures on new claims for unemployment pay. [17]

7. 08

   Norway's giant fund loses $30 billion on bonds

   Norway's sovereign wealth fund, which invests the country's oil money and is the world's biggest, lost 278 billion kroner, about $29.7 billion, in July to September. [25] Its bonds lost 3.5% as interest rates rose around the world, which lowers the price of bonds already held. [25] Its shares, 72% of the fund, returned 0.5%: energy companies rose, while property and power companies fell. [25] The fund is worth about $2.3 trillion and owns small stakes in about 7,100 companies. [25]

   Why it matters — It owns 1.5% of all listed companies in the world, so its results are a picture of how markets did. [25] Last month it said it would cut how much US government debt it holds. [25]

8. 09

   Gulf state funds pour money into China

   State investment funds put $14.2 billion into mainland China and Hong Kong in the first nine months of 2026, nearly three times the $4.9 billion of all 2025, the consultancy Global SWF says. [11] Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund put in $6 billion and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority $2.5 billion. [11] Four Gulf funds made up nearly 70% of the total. [11] A manager at Mubadala, another Abu Dhabi fund, said Chinese companies are cheaper than they have been in years. [11]

   Why it matters — China is still small for these funds: the US drew $132.4 billion from state funds over the same nine months. [11] The money kept arriving while China's main share index slid 20%. [1]

9. 10

   South Korea's central bank holds its rate at 3%

   The Bank of Korea kept its main interest rate at 3% on Thursday, after raising it in both July and August. [27][26] Prices rose 2.9% in the year to September, and inflation has been at or above the bank's 2% goal for 13 months. [26] The bank said home loans keep growing and house prices around Seoul are rising faster again. [26] President Lee Jae Myung has called for an all-out effort to build more homes. [26]

   12

   0%2%4%

   1. 1The bank's goal for inflation2%
   2. 2Korea's inflation, September2.9%

   Why it matters — Capital Economics, a research firm, expects one more rate rise next month. [26] Korea's growth rests on chip exports, which rose 263% in September as AI builders bought memory chips. [26]

10. 11

    Japan's central bank signals more rate rises

    Ryozo Himino, a deputy governor of the Bank of Japan, told parliament on Wednesday that Japan's underlying inflation is close to the bank's 2% goal. [28] He said borrowing in Japan is still cheap after last month's rate rise, and that waiting too long to act could harm the economy. [28] Traders read his words as a sign of more rate rises. [28][9] The yen held at about 158 to the US dollar. [9]

    Why it matters — The Bank of Japan kept loans very cheap for years to push prices up toward 2%. [28] With prices near that goal, the reason for cheap loans is fading, and Japanese firms and home owners face dearer borrowing.

11. 12

    China's yuan reaches a four-year high

    China's yuan rose on Thursday to its highest against the US dollar in more than four years, helped by a weaker dollar, Reuters reported. [13] The People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, sets a daily middle rate that the yuan may trade around. [13] On Thursday it set that rate at 6.7195 per dollar, much weaker than traders expected, which reads as a sign it wants to slow the rise. [13]

    Why it matters — A stronger yuan makes Chinese goods dearer abroad, at a time when exports are what keep China's economy growing. [13][4]

12. 13

    EQT agrees to buy Qiagen for 9.6 billion euros

    EQT, a Swedish firm that buys whole companies with investors' money, agreed to buy Qiagen for about 9.6 billion euros ($10.78 billion). [29] Qiagen, a Dutch company, makes kits and machines that test genetic material in labs and hospitals. [29] EQT offers 46.50 euros a share. That is 8.6% above where Qiagen's shares closed before the deal, and 40.3% above their level in early July, before talk of a bid. [29][30] Abu Dhabi's state fund and Canada's national pension fund are joining in, and the deal should close in mid-2027. [29]

    Why it matters — Thermo Fisher, a big US lab-equipment maker, agreed to buy Qiagen in 2020 but gave up when too few shareholders backed it. [29] Qiagen has suspended its forecast for this year while the deal is pending. [29]

13. 14

    Southwest cuts its forecast as fuel costs climb

    Southwest Airlines, a big US airline, cut its 2026 profit forecast to $2.60-$2.85 a share, from $3.25-$4.25. [31] Its fuel bill in July to September was $821 million higher than a year earlier. [31] It is the third major US airline this month to cut its forecast because of fuel, after Delta and United. [32] Its average fare rose almost 27% to $231.69, while it carried 3.2% fewer passengers. [32]

    Why it matters — Passengers are already paying far more, and the airline expects jet fuel to get dearer before the year ends. [31] Its boss says people are still booking despite the higher fares. [32]

14. 15

    Kuehne+Nagel raises its forecast

    Kuehne+Nagel, a Swiss firm that moves goods by sea, air and road for other companies, raised its 2026 profit forecast to 1.5-1.6 billion Swiss francs. [33] Its profit in July to September was 8% above what analysts expected. [33] Its air freight volumes grew 10%, helped by shipments of chips and data-centre equipment and by exports from Southeast Asia. [33] Its sea freight business made 55% more profit than a year earlier. [33]

    Why it matters — A company that moves other firms' goods sees demand early. [33] Its numbers show AI hardware and Asian exports still moving in volume.

15. 16

    Super Micro raises its sales forecast by $4 billion

    Super Micro Computer, which builds servers for AI data centres, said sales for its latest quarter will be $18.5-$19.5 billion, up from its earlier forecast of $14.5-$15.5 billion. [34][35] Its shares jumped 15% on Wednesday. [34] Dell and Hewlett Packard, which also sell servers, rose 5% and 3%. [34] Meta, Microsoft, Oracle and CoreWeave are among its known big customers, a fund manager said. [34]

    Why it matters — It showed the biggest AI builders were still buying machines one day before the sell-off in AI shares. [34][14]

16. 17

    Three US banks take 80% of share-trading income

    The five biggest investment banks earned about $67 billion from trading shares for clients this year to 30 September, $7 billion more than in all of 2025. [36] Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley took $52 billion of it, nearly 80%. [36] Much of it came from lending to hedge funds, which borrowed heavily to bet on AI chip makers and their suppliers in Asia. [36] Looser rules on how much banks may lend helped. [36]

    Why it matters — The IMF, which watches the world's financial system, has warned about rising borrowed bets. [36] The three banks are big enough to take losses that push smaller rivals out of this business, CNBC reports. [36]

17. 18

    Jio's share sale is filled, and the rupee rises

    Orders for the $3.2 billion share sale of Jio Platforms, India's biggest phone company, reached 3.64 times the shares on offer on its second day. [37] Big funds bid for 9.42 times their portion, and small savers filled theirs within two hours. [37] Foreign money coming in for the sale pushed India's rupee up to 94.35 to the dollar, on course for an eighth day of gains. [38] Minutes of the Reserve Bank of India's October meeting suggested more rate rises. [38]

    Why it matters — For many Indian families, shares in Reliance, Jio's owner, have long been a trusted store of savings, which helps explain the rush from small buyers. [37] The rupee rose despite dearer oil, which India mostly imports. [38]

18. 19

    Indian shares fall for a third day

    India's Sensex index fell 460 points, or 0.62%, to 73,249 on Thursday, its third fall in a row. [39] Over those three days, listed Indian companies lost almost 15 lakh crore rupees in value, about $160 billion. [39] High oil prices and high US bond rates are encouraging traders to bet on falls, a strategist at Geojit, an Indian investment firm, said. [39] Traders are also waiting for the US central bank's meeting next week. [39]

    Why it matters — The market fell even on days when big funds were buying, the strategist said. [39]

19. 20

    The Mistry family asks Tata Sons for a buyback

    The Shapoorji Pallonji Group, owned by the Mistry family, wants Tata Sons to put a share buyback worth about 25,000 crore rupees, about $2.6 billion, first on its next board agenda, Business World reported. [40] Tata Sons is the company that controls India's Tata group, and the Mistrys own 18.4% of it. [40] They have pledged that stake against loans and want cash to repay debt. [40] Noel Tata, who chairs the Tata Trusts, put the plan to the board. [40]

    Why it matters — Tata Sons' shares are not traded on a stock market, so the Mistrys cannot simply sell them; a buyback would turn part of the stake into cash. [40]

20. 21

    South Africa cuts fuel tax as petrol tops 30 rand

    South Africa's finance minister, Enoch Godongwana, cut the tax on fuel by 3 rand a litre of diesel and 1.50 rand a litre of petrol in his mid-year budget on Wednesday. [41] The cut runs from 4 November to 1 December, with a smaller cut into the new year. [41] In October petrol rose above 30 rand a litre, a record. [41] The cut costs 10 billion rand ($611 million), paid for with money returned from a state energy fund. [41]

    Why it matters — Paraffin prices also rose, which hits poor households that cook and heat with it. [41] The cut lands before local elections next month. [41] Stronger tax collections, much of them from high commodity prices, have lifted South Africa's revenue forecast. [41]

21. 22

    JPMorgan nears a banking licence in Nigeria

    JPMorgan, the biggest US bank, has paid a $38 million deposit to Nigeria's central bank and is on track for a merchant banking licence, Bloomberg reported. [42] A merchant bank arranges deals and loans for companies rather than serving the public. JPMorgan opened offices in Nairobi and Abidjan this year. [42] Nigeria's market regulator this week set out a 10-year plan to grow the country's stock and bond markets. [42]

    Why it matters — Nigeria wants money invested from Nigerians abroad to reach $10 billion a year, up from $4 billion. [42] Dangote's oil refinery is also selling shares, aiming to raise at least $1.6 billion. [42]

22. 23

    Indonesia's state fund buys a hotel in Mecca

    Danantara, Indonesia's state investment fund, has bought a hotel and building land in Mecca for 2 billion riyals, about $533 million. [43] It is the first time a foreign state has bought property in Mecca, Islam's holiest city, said the head of the seller, Thakher Development. [43] Saudi Arabia opened property in Mecca and Medina to Muslims abroad and to some foreign institutions in January. [43] Thakher plans more sales next year. [43]

    Why it matters — Saudi Arabia wants to more than double religious visitors to 50 million a year by 2030, to earn more from things other than oil. [43]

23. 24

    A big investor may fight Mattel's board

    Southeastern Asset Management, a big shareholder in Mattel, the maker of Barbie, is considering a fight for seats on the toymaker's board, Semafor reported. [44] It would ask other shareholders to vote its own people in, but no decision has been made. [44] It has pushed Mattel for months to sell itself after sales of Fisher-Price and other toys fell by double digits. [44] Ariel Investments, another big shareholder, has also said Mattel should sell. [44] Mattel's shares are down 15% this year. [44]

    Why it matters — Mattel's rules let an investor nominate only two directors, so a fight would be a vote on the company's direction, not a takeover of the board. [44] Mattel has also drawn takeover interest from Authentic Brands Group, the Wall Street Journal reported. [44]

24. 25

    The US government now owns stakes in 43 companies

    The Trump administration has announced 43 stakes in private companies, from mineral miners to chipmakers, Semafor counts. [45] Thirty-six of them were agreed without a law that clearly allows it. [45] Some Democrats are already discussing how a future government of theirs could use such stakes, for example to rein in the AI industry or press oil companies. [45] Asking for a stake in return for a loan, grant or permit is now a tool any president could use. [45]

    Why it matters — Undoing 43 stakes would be hard both legally and politically, Semafor reports. [45] So public money now sits inside private companies, whichever party wins the next election.

25. 26

    Ukraine's drones cut Russia's diesel exports

    Russia's diesel exports fell more than 75% to 141,000 barrels a day in September, from 608,000 a year earlier, after Ukrainian drones hit its refineries, Kpler data show. [46] Russia had been the world's second-biggest diesel exporter, after the US. [46] More than 1,000 Ukrainian drones targeted Russia on Sunday, setting fire to an oil export terminal in St Petersburg. [46] A deal Trump made with Putin for Russia to sell more diesel abroad now looks unlikely to work, a Kpler analyst said. [46]

    Why it matters — Diesel runs trucks, farm machines and ships, and its price has surged because of the wars in Europe and the Middle East. [46] Less Russian diesel on the market keeps that price high for everyone who moves goods.

26. 27

    An Indian refiner's profit nearly quadruples

    Chennai Petroleum, a state-owned oil refiner in Tamil Nadu, said its profit rose 291% to 2,271 crore rupees in July to September, from 732 crore a year earlier. [47] It will pay shareholders a dividend of 25 rupees a share. [47] A refiner earns the gap between what crude oil costs and what fuels such as diesel sell for. Its shares closed about 1% higher. [47]

    Why it matters — Diesel prices have surged because of the wars in Europe and the Middle East. [46] Refiners make and sell that diesel, so fuel that costs airlines and drivers more can raise a refiner's profit.

27. 28

    An Indian lender's shares fall 10% despite profit

    Shares in Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services, which lends to buy tractors and vehicles in rural India, fell nearly 10% on Thursday. [48] Its profit rose 55% to 882 crore rupees in July to September. [48] Fewer borrowers fell behind: the cost of bad loans fell to 1.6% of its assets from 2.2%. [48] Brokers worried about its rising cost of borrowing and pressure on tractor loans, and Nomura lowered its price target to 400 rupees. [48]

    Why it matters — A lender earns the gap between what it pays to borrow and what it charges. [48] When its own borrowing gets dearer, that gap can shrink even after a strong quarter.

28. 29

    Sainsbury's sales growth nearly halves

    Sainsbury's, Britain's second-biggest supermarket, said sales grew 2.6% in the six months to 12 September, and only 1.9% in the second three months. [20] Shoppers bought fewer items and spent less on clothing and furniture, its chief executive, Simon Roberts, said. [20] Sales at Argos, its catalogue shop, fell 1.8%. [20] Its shares fell 3.7%. [20]

    Why it matters — Roberts said households are finding it tough and food producers face rising costs. [20] He asked the UK government not to raise business costs again in this month's budget. [20]