Finance News

The IMF's meetings in Bangkok end with a warning that help with energy bills, costing 0.5% of world output, cannot last, as G20 finance ministers agree no statement and nearly half the delegates walk out on Russia's finance minister →

The IMF told governments to cut energy help and debt, its steering committee agreed one statement, and the G20 could agree nothing; SoftBank, Berkshire and Bending Spoons spent the week buying what others sell.

Brent oil touches $110 a barrel for the first time since May, as US diesel nears records and Exxon books $4.5 billion more from refining →

Brent, the main world oil price, closed at $109.86 on Friday after more attacks around Hormuz and a missile aimed at a Saudi oil port, while fuel refiners earned more and truckers paid more.

Indonesia's main share index falls 11%, its worst day since 1998, after MSCI proposes dropping it from the share lists global funds copy, and freezes changes for Turkey →

MSCI says Indonesia's stock market no longer deserves emerging-market status because of suspected coordinated trading, a move that would force index-tracking funds to sell; investors ran to bonds and gold as AI shares fell, and US wholesale prices rose 1.3%.

US inflation rises to 3.7% in September, above forecasts; bets on a US rate rise this month double, and South Korea's share index falls about 8% →

US consumer prices rose 3.7% in the year to September, led by petrol but spreading to housing, used cars and air fares, and traders doubled their bets on a US rate rise this month. Companies that borrow to build AI fell hardest on Wall Street, and South Korea's market fell about 8% on Thursday.

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

Four of the biggest US banks earned more than a year ago, but JPMorgan fell short of forecasts and lost money on its own investments, and bank shares ended the day lower.

The IMF raises its 2026 world growth forecast to 3.1% as AI spending offsets the war, and warns that emergency oil stocks are running down →

The IMF says spending on chips and data centres kept the world economy growing through the oil shock, but the growth sits in fewer countries, emergency oil stocks are shrinking and government deficits are the biggest since Covid. South Korea's share market then fell more than 6%, led by chipmakers.

India's rupee jumps 1%, its biggest rise since April, as its central bank starts selling the state oil firms all their dollars →

From Monday India's central bank supplies the dollars its three state oil companies need, and the rupee rose 1% to 95.76, but India's ten-year borrowing rate climbed to its highest since 2023.

A missile strike on Riyadh's airport kills 12 as Saudi Arabia opens a world oil congress and keeps its big investment summit on →

The deadliest attack on a Gulf Arab country since the Iran war began hit Riyadh's airport on Saturday. Saudi Arabia says its oil congress, which opens on Sunday, and its flagship investment summit later this month will both go ahead.

Trump sets up a committee of his own officials to decide whether he can fire Lisa Cook, a governor of the US central bank; her hearing is on 5 November →

All three members are Trump's own officials. Cook, who denies mortgage fraud and voted for September's rate rise, must answer their questions two days after the US elections.

SpaceX agrees to buy airwaves to run its own phone network, and AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile shares fall 5% to 8% after hours →

SpaceX is buying low-band airwave licences that let Starlink reach inside buildings, and the three big US phone companies lost value in trading after the market closed. Oil rose to $104, the US froze green cards at eight firms, and Britain's borrowing costs hit a 19-year high.

Minutes show most US central bank officials expect another rate rise by year end, as 10-year US borrowing costs touch their highest since 2002 →

The US central bank raised rates in September for the first time since 2023, and most of its officials expect to do it again this year, though traders doubt it will come in October.

India's central bank raises its main interest rate to 5.5%, its first rise since February 2023, as oil above $100 pushes up prices →

The Reserve Bank of India raised rates and said cuts are off the table for now. In the US, the trade gap reached its widest since March 2025 even with tariffs, and shares closed at a record.

The euro falls to its lowest in 17 months as worry about France's debts spreads and Spain calls an early election for 29 November →

The euro sank to $1.1161 on Monday as lenders charged France more to borrow before its 2027 election. Spain's prime minister then called an early vote, and borrowing rates rose in Italy and Greece too.

Saudi Arabia cuts its November oil price for Asia to a six-year low, against forecasts of a rise, as Gulf exports recover →

Saudi Aramco will sell its main crude to Asian buyers at $5 a barrel below the Gulf yardstick, the widest gap since 2020, to cover part of their record shipping costs. It raised its price for Europe by $3.

Houthi missiles and drones set an Aramco refinery near Riyadh on fire on Saturday, two days before oil trading reopens →

Yemen's Houthis say they hit a Saudi Aramco refinery south of Riyadh, and Yemen's Saudi-backed government struck back at Sanaa. Oil last traded on Friday at $102.25 a barrel, so Monday is the first price after the fire.

US employers added only 29,000 jobs in September and unemployment rose to 4.2%. Bets on an October rate rise faded, but ten-year borrowing costs rose again →

Shares rose on Friday because slow hiring makes a US rate rise this month unlikely, yet the rate on ten-year US loans rose for a fifth week. Also today: France's borrowing gap over Germany hits a 2011 high, euro-area prices rise 3.8%, Tesla beats forecasts, Volvo Cars scraps its outlook and Vietnam grows almost 10%.

The US tells Germany and France to release their emergency diesel or face a US export ban, and Europe meets on Friday to answer →

The US government told Germany and France to release diesel from their emergency stores, or risk a US ban on selling diesel abroad. It wants lower US fuel prices before the US elections on 3 November. European governments meet on Friday to agree a reply, while US home-loan rates jumped by the most in four years.

Micron, which makes memory chips for AI, earned $37.7bn in three months and says the chip shortage will get tighter into 2028 →

Micron, an American maker of memory chips, made $37.7bn of profit in the three months to 3 September, against $3.2bn a year earlier. AI builders need more memory than anyone can make, and Micron says the shortage will be tighter in 2027 and 2028. In the US, prices rose more slowly than forecast in August, and the chance of another US rate rise in October fell.

China will pay one point of first-time home buyers' mortgage interest, its first such step nationwide, and its factories grew again in September →

China's central bank cut the rate on its cheap loans to state policy banks to 1.5% on Tuesday. From 1 October China's government will also pay one percentage point of interest on small first home loans, which China's central bank says is about a third off. An official factory survey then showed growth in September after two months of shrinking.

Anthropic's IPO papers, seen by Reuters: sales up 12-fold to $4.6bn, a $42bn loss, and seven founders who will keep 50.1% of the votes →

Reuters has seen the share-sale papers of Anthropic, the AI company that makes Claude. It spent $7.33bn on computing in 2025, more than its $4.6bn of sales, and it warns that advanced AI could pose catastrophic risks. Nvidia, which sells AI chips, added a record $150bn to its share buyback the same day.

Oil rises 1.8% as Asia opens on Monday. Trump turned down Iran's plan to reopen Hormuz, and Iran says it will not soften it →

Brent crude rose to $106.31 a barrel in early Asian trading after Trump rejected Iran's seven-day plan; Iran says its conditions stand, and Trump says talks resume this week.

Australia is expected to raise its rate to 4.6% on Tuesday, even with house prices falling and joblessness at a five-year high →

Australia's central bank looks set to raise borrowing costs for a fourth time this year, because the things pushing prices up barely respond to interest rates. Also today: Trump turns down Iran's offer to reopen Hormuz, and the US faces a week of price and jobs reports.

Trump told Japan's leader the yen is too weak. Japan said so in public on Friday, and the yen jumped 1% in a day →

Japan's finance minister disclosed that Donald Trump raised the weak yen with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, then held a call with the US Treasury. The yen rose from 158.60 to about 157.20 per dollar, after a record 15.4 trillion yen of buying this summer had failed to stop its slide.

Lending to the US government for 30 years now pays 5.5%, the most since 2004, and home loans pass 7% →

A survey showing a hot US economy set off two days of bond selling that spread to Japan and Australia. It pushed US borrowing costs to 20-year highs and the average US mortgage above 7%.

The US and China extend their trade truce by two months, to 10 January, as Xi arrives in Washington →

The US says the pause in its trade war with China now runs to 10 January instead of 10 November, while strong US business figures pushed borrowing costs to their highest since 2007.

Meta's AI app Muse topped the download charts. Schwab fell 6.1% and Allstate 5.5%, and Shopify rose nearly 7% after letting Muse shop →

Investors sold US banks, brokers and insurers on Tuesday, afraid an AI helper will shop around for their customers. Firms that plug into Muse rose instead.

Twelve US states sued to stop the $110bn Warner Bros deal. On Monday all twelve settled, and Paramount kept every channel it owns →

The states wanted Paramount to sell assets. They took promises instead - 30 films a year, a board over CNN and CBS news, money for film workers - and most of those promises expire within five years.

Japan raised rates to a 31-year high and the yen fell anyway. Its officials began the checks that come before buying yen. →

Two of the Bank of Japan's nine rate-setters voted against Friday's rise, the yen dropped more than 2% over the week, and officials started ringing banks for quotes.

France says its debt will hit 119.3% of a year's output, the highest since 1978, and lenders make it pay a full point more than Germany →

France's finance ministry published the numbers on Saturday: debt at 119.3% of output this year, 121.7% in 2027, and a deficit that misses its own target. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu wants 54 billion euros of cuts through a parliament he does not control. On Friday the extra France pays over Germany to borrow for ten years passed a full percentage point for the first time since 2012, and the ratings firm Scope cut its credit score.

Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway's chairman at 96. His son Howard takes the chair, and Buffett keeps about 30% of the votes. →

Warren Buffett, 96, handed the chair of Berkshire Hathaway to his son Howard and still holds about 30% of its votes with 13% of its shares. Also today: the Dow's worst week since March, Saudi Arabia cuts Europe's crude, and Paramount nears a deal with the states.

Japan's central bank raised its rate to 1.25%, its highest since 1995. Two of its nine members voted no, and the yen fell. →

The Bank of Japan raised rates on Friday, two days after the US did and a day after Britain's central bank held but warned it may raise next. Oil fell for a third day as Saudi Arabia shipped crude around its damaged pipeline.

The US central bank raised rates for the first time since 2023, and 16 of 18 officials expect to raise again this year →

The Federal Reserve lifted its main rate to 3.75-4% with no vote against, President Trump demanded 1% within hours, and central banks from Saudi Arabia to Hong Kong followed while Brazil cut.

The US central bank is expected to raise rates today. Lenders already charge it the most since 2007, and its 20-year debt just sold at a 1986 high. →

The rise is aimed at a fuel price set by a war, and governments from Japan to Britain are paying the most to borrow in nearly two decades.

Bank of America says its deal fees will fall at least 10%, and bank shares drop from New York to Tokyo →

Brian Moynihan gave his bank's numbers for July to September early. Rival banks that had said nothing fell with it, on a day the US ten-year borrowing rate touched 5%.

Saudi Arabia's pipeline around Hormuz stays shut, the Gulf talks are postponed, and oil passes $107 →

Saudi Arabia's main way of shipping oil around the closed Strait of Hormuz has been shut since Friday, and a Monday meeting on the strait was postponed. Oil rose past $107 a barrel, two days before the US central bank is expected to raise rates.

Oracle's founder filed a plan to sell $7.5bn of his shares. One day later the company said the plan is cancelled and nothing was sold. →

Larry Ellison, who founded Oracle and still controls more than 40% of it, dropped a plan to sell up to 50 million shares a day after it was disclosed. Oracle is raising $40bn this year to build data centres for AI companies, and gave no reason for the reversal.