Finance, in brief

SpaceX, Elon Musk's rocket and Starlink satellite company, agreed on Thursday to buy a nationwide set of airwave licences from Grain Management, an investment firm. [1][3]

The licences cover up to 14 megahertz of low-band airwaves at 800 MHz, a kind of radio signal that passes through walls and reaches inside buildings. [3][7]

SpaceX said they fill 'one of the key remaining technical gaps' for Starlink Mobile, its phone service, to become a major US mobile network. [1]

Grain got these same licences from T-Mobile only in August, in a swap that involved cash and Grain's own 600 MHz airwaves. [3]

Shares of AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, the three big US mobile networks, fell after the market closed: about 6.6% each in one count, and up to 8% in another. [5][2]

SpaceX's own shares rose about 2% after hours. [4][10]

Companies that own phone towers rose instead: Crown Castle 7%, SBA Communications 6% and American Tower 5%. [4]

Bernstein, a research firm, estimates a full SpaceX network would cost $50 billion to $130 billion and need 30,000 to 120,000 tower sites. [4]

The US builds only 1,200 to 2,000 new towers a year, so SpaceX would have to rent space on towers that already exist. [4]

Earlier this week the FCC, the US regulator of airwaves, approved 15,000 new Starlink satellites that talk straight to phones. [6][3]

It also set aside a rule that made SpaceX partner with a ground-based phone company to offer that service. [6]

The FCC will vote on selling 25 MHz more of airwaves for satellite-to-phone service, which could help SpaceX and Amazon, whose own satellite service is weeks away. [8][9]

The deal still needs FCC approval, and Starlink Mobile is due to launch in 2027. [1][4]

Why it matters. The next test is Friday's full trading day, which will show how much of the after-hours fall holds, and then the FCC's review, which must approve the sale before SpaceX can use the airwaves. [1][5]

The Trump administration on Thursday stopped accepting or processing green-card paperwork from eight companies: Microsoft, Adobe, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL, Cognizant and Capgemini. [11][12][16] A green card lets a foreign worker stay in the US for good, and most job-based ones first need a Labor Department certificate called PERM. [11][14] Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling said his department had found $22 billion in visa fraud, without giving details. [13] Mint, an Indian newspaper, found that Indian IT firms accounted for under 1,400 of the 117,849 such requests filed in the year to September 2025, less than 2%. [14]

Why it matters. The freeze lands first on foreign workers already waiting for green cards at Microsoft, which files more of these requests than any other company. [11] Microsoft denied abusing the system, and Nasscom, India's tech industry body, played the change down. [15]

Brent crude, the world's main oil price, rose 4% on Thursday to close at $104.28 a barrel. [18] Nine tankers have been attacked in and around the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow sea route out of the Gulf, in a week. [18] Oil companies also shut about 500,000 barrels a day, a quarter of US offshore output in the Gulf of Mexico, as Hurricane Isaias approached. [18] Prices came off their highs after President Trump said the US would not attack Iran before the November elections. [18] In Asia on Friday, Brent slipped 0.8% to $103.48. [10]

Why it matters. Dearer oil was blamed the same day for pushing up what Britain's government pays to borrow. [19] Traders on Kalshi, a betting site for events, put an 87% chance on US petrol still costing over $4 a gallon on election day. [20]

Britain's government now pays 5.515% a year to borrow for ten years, the most since July 2007. [19][23] Its 30-year rate touched 6.036% on Wednesday, the highest since January 1998. [19] Andrew Bailey, who runs the Bank of England, told finance minister John Healey his plans 'must be credible' to investors. [23] Healey presents his budget on 28 October. [23] Economists think higher borrowing costs have used up about half of the GBP 24 billion of spare room left under the British government's own borrowing rules in March. [23]

Why it matters. Healey is expected to raise taxes to rebuild that room, and higher government rates also push up rates for homeowners and businesses. [23] The selling is mostly driven from abroad, as investors everywhere fear dear oil will keep prices rising. [23]

The US Treasury sold $22 billion of 30-year bonds on Thursday, and buyers bid for 2.54 times the amount on offer, above the average of the last five sales. [24][25] A group of buyers that includes central banks took 72.3%, more than usual. [25] The 30-year rate fell back to about 5.61%, from a 24-year high above 5.73% earlier in the day. [24] A day earlier, strong demand for 10-year bonds had some options traders betting the long fall in bond prices was ending. [26]

Why it matters. These rates help set US mortgage rates and the cost of the US government's $40 trillion debt. [24] Christopher Waller, a governor of the US central bank, said more rate rises are still needed, but not at every meeting. [25] David Zervos, an adviser to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, said rates were 'really, really high' and could come down. [27]

OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, told investors its yearly revenue rate was about $50 billion at the end of September, not the $68 billion widely reported last month. [28] A person familiar with it said the larger number included money taken in by OpenAI's partners. [28] On Thursday CoreWeave, which rents out AI computers, fell 7% to 8%, and Oracle 5% to 6%. [10][28] Nvidia, whose chips run most AI, lost about 3%. [28] The Nasdaq, an index full of tech companies, fell more than 1%, its worst day since mid-August. [10]

Why it matters. OpenAI is under pressure to justify its $852 billion value before a share sale expected in 2027. [28] Kristina Hooper of Man Group, an investment firm, warned that a few more days like this could turn into 'a real rout'. [10]

India's rupee ended Thursday at 96.78 to the US dollar, close to its all-time low of 96.96 set in May. [29] It has lost over 7% this year. [29] Foreign investors have taken a record $30 billion out of Indian shares this year. [30] India's central bank raised its main rate on Wednesday for the first time in nearly four years, but investors told Reuters the 0.25-point rise will not stop the outflow. [30] The cost for foreign funds of insuring against a weaker rupee rose to 8.65% a year, from 7.40% a month ago. [31]

Why it matters. Reuters describes a loop: a weaker rupee pushes up prices in India, and higher prices weaken the rupee further. [30] Higher insurance costs cut what foreign funds earn on Indian bonds, which can keep more of them away. [31]

Tata Consultancy Services, India's biggest IT services company, said profit rose 15% from a year earlier to Rs 13,884 crore in July to September. [17] Revenue rose 11.2% to Rs 73,188 crore. [17] It said its yearly revenue from AI work had reached $3.1 billion, over a tenth of the total. [17] Its staff grew to 598,056 people. [17] The results came out on the day of the US green-card freeze, and US-traded shares of Infosys and Wipro fell nearly 3%. [17]

Why it matters. Indian IT firms earn much of their money from Western clients, so worries about US tech spending, AI and visa rules all weighed on their shares. [17]

The US Treasury put sanctions on 17 more tankers on Thursday that it says carry oil for Iran's 'shadow fleet', ships Iran uses to sell oil around sanctions. [21] The ships, registered in more than a dozen countries, carried millions of barrels to buyers in South and East Asia, Treasury said. [21][22] It also sanctioned the companies that own them. [22] Treasury said the step 'effectively neutralizes' most of what is left of the fleet. [22]

Why it matters. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the aim is to cut the oil money Iran uses to fight the war. [21] CNBC notes that this step alone is not expected to change much in Iran's economy. [21]

The World Trade Organization, which writes the rules for trade between countries, now expects the amount of goods traded worldwide to grow 3.9% this year. [32][33] In March it forecast 1.9%. [32] It says spending on AI chips and equipment more than made up for the war in the Middle East and US tariffs. [33] Even so, Middle East crude exports fell 24% in the first half of the year, and gas shipments 47%. [33] It expects 4.1% growth in 2027. [32]

Why it matters. Asia, where most AI hardware is made, gains most: its exports are forecast to grow 9.9% this year. [32] Producers of fuel and fertiliser outside the Gulf also gained by replacing lost supplies. [33]

MSC, one of the world's biggest container shipping lines, has restored a weekly direct service from Karachi to Rotterdam, Hamburg, Felixstowe and other European ports. [35] Pakistan's maritime minister said the country has become the region's transshipment hub, where cargo switches between ships. [35] The WTO said Pakistan's sales of sea freight services rose 73% in the first half of the year, as ships avoided the war zone. [34] Textile exporters had complained that longer, dearer trips were making their goods harder to sell abroad. [35]

Why it matters. Pakistani exporters get a direct weekly route to Europe again. [35] The minister warned that the wider problems on world shipping routes are not over. [35]

Pakistan's government raised petrol by Rs2.31 a litre to Rs398.96 from Friday, and diesel by Rs0.78 to Rs395.72. [36] Petrol cost about Rs266 a litre before the US-Iran war began in late February, and peaked at Rs458.41 in April. [36] Pakistan's government still takes Rs114 a litre in taxes and duties on petrol. [36] It has also brought back savings rules: markets must close by 9pm, and official cars get less fuel. [36]

Why it matters. Petrol in Pakistan still costs about half again what it did before the war. [36] The 9pm closing rule also cuts shops' trading hours. [36]

TSMC, the Taiwanese company that makes most of the world's advanced chips, reported record revenue of T$1.49 trillion ($46.7 billion) for July to September. [37] That is 50% more than a year earlier, and above the T$1.46 trillion analysts expected. [37] September alone was up 54.6%. [37] TSMC makes chips for Nvidia and Apple. [37]

Why it matters. The record came on the same day AI shares fell over OpenAI's revenue, so orders for AI chips are still rising even as investors question what AI earns. [37][28]

Firmus, an Australian company that builds data centres for AI and is backed by Nvidia, withdrew its plan to sell shares on the stock market. [38][39] It had hoped to raise about $5 billion at A$11 a share, valuing it near $30.6 billion, almost triple its value in August. [38] It would have been the biggest listing in Australia since Telstra in 1997. [39] The Guardian reports its bankers had badly overestimated demand, for a company running two small sites. [39] Firmus said the offer price did not reflect its business, and it will raise money privately. [38]

Why it matters. Firmus's backers, including Nvidia, Blackstone and Jane Street, must wait longer to sell, and its plans for AI data centres across Asia now depend on private money. [39][38]

PepsiCo, which makes Pepsi, Lay's and Doritos, now expects profit per share to grow 2.5% to 3.5% this year, down from about 5% before. [41] Sales volumes of its North American soft drinks fell 2% in July to September. [40] Chief executive Ramon Laguarta said 'we do not feel good about the beverage business'. [40] Sales outside North America grew, and make up 41% of its revenue. [41] It plans to raise chip and soda prices later this year, after cutting some by up to 15%. [40]

Why it matters. Laguarta said shoppers are 'clearly challenged' and he does not expect that to change for 12 to 18 months. [40] US consumer confidence recently fell below its level in the pandemic. [40]

Tesco, Britain's biggest supermarket chain, raised its profit outlook on Thursday. [42][43] Sales rose 2% to GBP 33.8 billion in the 26 weeks to 29 August, and underlying profit rose 6.5% to GBP 1.8 billion. [42] Online sales grew 8%, and its premium Finest range 9%. [42] Chief executive Ken Murphy said British shoppers had been 'pretty resilient' and want to enjoy Christmas. [42] Tesco has locked in its energy costs into next year. [42]

Why it matters. British households are still spending on food and treats despite the war's effect on fuel, on the same day PepsiCo said American soda drinkers are cutting back. [42][40]

Researchers at the New York branch of the US central bank found that tariffs added 2.9 percentage points to inflation on 67 kinds of goods by February. [44] Without the tariffs, prices of those goods would have fallen by almost 1%, they said. [44] The tariffs were imposed in 2025 and early 2026. [44] The Trump administration has said foreign sellers bear the cost of the tariffs. [44]

Why it matters. The study finds the cost reached US shoppers in the prices of everyday goods. [44] CNBC calls it the clearest evidence yet of what the tariffs did to household spending. [44]

Germany's government more than doubled its forecast for economic growth this year, saying the economy withstood the energy shock from the Iran war. [45] It expects exports to rise 3.7% this year, after falling 0.9% in 2025. [45] Economy minister Katherina Reiche said buyers abroad stocked up on German steel, fertiliser and aluminium, and data-centre builders ordered German lasers and cooling systems. [45] Separate figures the same day showed German exports falling further. [46]

Why it matters. Households will feel little of it: Germany's economy ministry expects their spending to grow just 0.3% this year after inflation. [45] Prices rose 3.3% in September, the most in nearly three years. [45]

The euro was on course on Friday for its fifth weekly fall against the US dollar, down more than 3% over the five weeks. [47] It hit a 17-month low of $1.1161 on Monday on worries about France's record debts, and has since recovered to $1.1211. [47] France's biggest business group says political doubt is holding back investment, and shoppers are putting off purchases. [48] Far-left and far-right parties want the European Central Bank to buy up or cancel French debt. [48]

Why it matters. Investors took Marine Le Pen's plan this week to cut France's deficit as reassuring, because her hard-left rival Jean-Luc Melenchon has asked the European Central Bank to cancel France's debts. [47]

EU governments expect the proposal for the bloc's next seven-year budget, for 2028 to 2034, to be cut by EUR 100 billion to 200 billion from the plan of June, 12 diplomats told Politico. [49] The plan on the table is close to EUR 2 trillion. [49] Ireland, which chairs the talks, publishes its proposal on Saturday. [49] Germany, Austria and the Netherlands want deeper cuts, while southern and eastern countries oppose them. [49]

Why it matters. Farm and regional aid is expected to be protected, so cuts would fall elsewhere in EU spending. [49] Leaders meet next week to see if a deal is possible. [49]

The European Court of Auditors, which checks how the EU spends its money, said EU borrowing rose more than 20% to EUR 738.9 billion last year and could reach EUR 1 trillion by 2027. [50] Most of it funds the pandemic recovery plan and must be repaid between 2028 and 2058. [50] The auditors found 3.8% of last year's EU budget spending broke the rules, up from 3.6%, against a 2% limit they use. [50] They reported 17 suspected fraud cases. [50]

Why it matters. The warning lands as governments argue over the next budget, which would copy much of the recovery plan the auditors criticise. [50][49]

Europe could be short of 12% to 15% of the gas it needs if a severe cold snap hits this winter, said ENTSOG, the group of EU gas pipeline operators. [51] EU gas storage was 72% full on 1 October, against 83% a year earlier. [51] Both of its scenarios assume no Russian pipeline gas. [51] The worst case is damage to a major offshore pipeline plus a halt to imports from Algeria. [51]

Why it matters. Countries in central and eastern Europe with no coast are most exposed, because gas would struggle to reach them from the west. [51] The EU has asked countries to fill stores early and share any cuts equally. [51]

Michael O'Leary, who runs Ryanair, Europe's biggest budget airline, said he expects no jet fuel shortages in Europe this winter or next summer. [52] About 900,000 tonnes of jet fuel from Asia are due over the coming months, according to Kpler, a firm that tracks cargoes. [52] Lower demand from November also helps. [52] A Kpler analyst said last month that prices are likely to stay high, because jet fuel is tied to diesel, which recently hit record prices. [52]

Why it matters. Flights should keep running, but airlines and passengers still face high fuel costs. [52]

Viatris, a big drug maker whose medicines include Celebrex, agreed to buy Pacira BioSciences for $1.65 billion in cash. [53][43] It will pay $36.50 a share, 45% more than Pacira's price the day before. [53] Pacira's two main drugs, Exparel for pain after surgery and Zilretta for knee pain from arthritis, sold $692 million last year. [53] Both could soon lose patent protection, the legal right that keeps copies off the market. [53]

Why it matters. Viatris is paying for drugs whose sales could shrink once copies are allowed, and says it will sell them in more countries through its own network. [53]

E.ON Next completed its purchase of Ovo Energy on Thursday, after Britain's competition regulator cleared it. [54] E.ON now supplies 25% of British households, just behind Octopus Energy at 26% and ahead of British Gas at 23%. [54] Almost three-quarters of households now buy from those three companies. [54] There is no immediate change for Ovo's 4 million customers. [54]

Why it matters. For a decade, policy aimed to break up the 'Big Six' suppliers so more competition would lower bills. [54] Critics say three big suppliers have less reason to cut prices. [54]