Finance, in brief

On Friday, President Donald Trump set up a three-person 'committee of inquiry' to tell him whether he has 'cause' to fire Lisa Cook, a governor of the Federal Reserve, the US central bank. [1][2]

Cook must attend a closed hearing in the US president's offices on 5 November, lasting no more than four hours. A transcript will be published. [1][2][8]

All three members work for Trump: Kevin Hassett, his top economic adviser; Keith Sonderling, acting head of the Office of Government Ethics; and Andrea Lucas, who chairs the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. [3][4]

The charge is about mortgages from 2021. Cook is accused of naming two different houses as her main home, which can earn a cheaper loan. [7][5] She denies it and has not been charged with any crime. [2]

Trump first tried to fire her in August 2025. In June the US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that she could stay, because she had not been given notice and a chance to answer. [6][5]

That ruling said nothing stopped Trump from trying again, as long as he gave her notice and a chance to respond. [2]

Trump wants lower interest rates. Instead, the US central bank raised its main rate on 16 September, its first rise since 2023, and the vote was unanimous. [2][10]

The US central bank is now led by Kevin Warsh, whom Trump picked. Trump says a 'hostile' board is the reason rates have not come down. [3]

Cook's lawyers, Abbe Lowell and Norm Eisen, said they have 'grave doubts' that the hearing is legitimate. They said any fair hearing would find no reason to fire her. [3][1]

The committee only advises. Trump makes the final call with no deadline, and courts can review whether he had cause, so the case is likely to return to the US Supreme Court. [4]

Also on Friday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hired Judy Shelton as an adviser on currency. Senators rejected Trump's 2019 nomination of her to the US central bank's board over her views on its independence and on the gold standard. [9]

Krishna Guha of Evercore ISI, an investment bank, said the inquiry will work against Trump's wish for lower rates. [1] Lenders already charge the US government 5.365% for ten years, the most in more than two decades. [11]

Why it matters. Watch whether Cook attends on 5 November and what she asks first about how her answers could be used; a firing after the hearing would send the case back to the courts. [4]

On Friday Trump said Russia will supply more than 300,000 tonnes of diesel at once, 500,000 tonnes in November and more than 4 million tonnes in all. [12][14] The US Treasury issued a licence letting Russian diesel be sold until 7 April, despite US sanctions. [13] Three weeks earlier Trump signed a law letting him put tariffs of up to 100% on the biggest buyers of Russian oil and gas. [13][16] Diesel, the fuel of lorries, tractors and home heating, cost about $6.28 a gallon in the US on Thursday, near its record. [12]

Why it matters. Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, called the deal 'not fair and not honest' and said it pays for Russia's war. [17][13] The first delivery equals about a day and a half of US diesel exports, and analysts said prices may barely move. [12][15]

The Reserve Bank of India said on Saturday that from Monday it will sell US dollars directly to Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum, covering all their daily needs. [22][20] Until now these three state oil companies bought dollars on the open market to pay for imported oil. [20] Together they sell about 90% of India's fuel, according to Sandeep Pandey of Basav Capital, an investment firm. [20] The bank also cut the most a trader may hold in rupee bets on exchanges from $100 million to $5 million. [19][21]

Why it matters. The rupee ended Friday at 96.73 to the dollar, close to its weakest ever, 96.96 in May. [19] Taking the biggest dollar buyers out of the market should calm the rupee, but the dollars will now come out of India's reserves, an ANZ Bank strategist said. [19]

The Federal Reserve, the US central bank, said on Friday that nearly 20% of US families were behind on loan payments at the end of 2025. [23] That was up from about 12% in its previous survey, of 2022, and the highest since 2010. [23] The Survey of Consumer Finances comes out every three years. [23] Over the same years, the median net worth of families in the top income group rose 31%. [23]

Why it matters. The share of families whose loan payments eat more than 40% of their income rose to 8.6%, the highest since 2013. [23] Americans aged 45 to 54 now owe the most on credit cards, about $5,100, up from $3,300 in 2022. [24]

The Euro Stoxx Banks index, which tracks the eurozone's big banks, has fallen about 8% in two weeks, to its lowest since June. [25] Societe Generale, Credit Agricole and Deutsche Bank are each down more than 15% from their recent highs. [25] Rising interest rates on government bonds, above all France's, cut the value of the bonds banks hold and can mean more unpaid loans. [25][26] The shares had tripled since 2022. [26]

Why it matters. Government bonds were about 13% of European banks' assets at the end of 2025, and supervisors are watching that more closely. [25] The banks report their results for the summer later this month. [25]

Paul Krugman, a Nobel-winning economist, wrote on Thursday that France may be 'too big to save' for the European Central Bank. [28] France's government debt was 115.6% of a year's economic output in 2025, and its budget gap was 5.1% of output. [27] Last week its ten-year borrowing rate hit its highest since July 2002, just under 5%. [27] Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu is trying to pass a 2027 budget with deep savings while students protest over school funding. [28]

Why it matters. Jean-Claude Trichet, a former head of the European Central Bank, said France must first show a credible plan before the bank could step in. [28] A survey by Medef, France's biggest employers' group, found 82% of firms gloomy about the next government's policies. [27]

Oil companies shut in about 1.3 million barrels a day, roughly 63% of US output in the Gulf of Mexico, as Hurricane Isaias approached on Thursday. [29] The storm hit the Florida Panhandle near Destin and weakened to a Category 1 hurricane on Friday. [30] Chevron's Pascagoula refinery and Vertex's Saraland refinery, together 2.4% of US refining, sat in its path. [29] Gulf Coast refineries were already running at 95% of capacity. [29]

Why it matters. US diesel stocks are at their lowest for this time of year since records began in 1982, an analyst said, so losing any refinery matters more than usual. [29] Isaias is the first hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic season. [30]

Delta Air Lines, the most profitable US airline, now expects 2026 earnings of $5.10 to $5.60 a share, down from $6.50 to $7.50 in July. [31] Its fuel bill is up $6 billion this year since the Iran war began in February. [31] Jet fuel on the US Gulf Coast costs $4.34 a gallon, almost double a year ago. [31] Delta missed analysts' forecasts for the first time in two years. [31]

Why it matters. Its boss, Ed Bastian, said fares keep rising and travellers keep booking, so passengers are paying much of the fuel bill. [31] Airfares in the latest US inflation figures were up more than 23% on a year earlier. [31]

Maros Sefcovic, the European Union's trade chief, said in Beijing on Friday that China had agreed to cut its hybrid car exports to the EU by more than half. [32][33] He said that means several million fewer cars over four years. [32] The EU buys about EUR1.18bn a day more from China than it sells there. [32] China said both sides would follow rules on 'price undertakings', which suggests minimum prices for Chinese hybrids. [32]

Why it matters. Sefcovic said it is the first time China has agreed to limit exports before any formal trade case. [32] EU governments still have to approve the deal, and EU leaders meet on Thursday. [33][32]

Bonds of companies with low credit ratings, called junk or high-yield bonds, now pay 8.1% a year, up from 7.22% a month ago. [34] The extra interest they pay over US government bonds has widened to 3.15 percentage points, the most since April. [34] For the weakest group, rated CCC or below, the gap is about 12.5 points. [34] The US government borrowed nearly $2 trillion in the year to 30 September. [34]

Why it matters. Strategists at State Street and Schwab called it a warning sign, not yet a crisis. [34] Most of these companies still earn enough to pay their interest, they said. [34]

The Dow Jones index of 30 big US companies rose 0.83% on Friday to 51,654.95, and the S&P 500 rose 0.59%. [37] Shares hit their highs after Trump announced the Russian diesel deal. [37] All three main US indexes gained for the week, even as long-term US borrowing rates reached 24-year highs. [37] Apple fell almost 2% after Nikkei Asia reported it had cut October orders for two iPhone 18 Pro models by 15%. [37]

Why it matters. The biggest US banks report results next week, starting with JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Wells Fargo on Tuesday. [10] September's US price figures come out on Wednesday, and a Reuters poll expects 3.6% inflation. [10]

On Friday traders bought far more contracts that pay out if chip shares fall than contracts that pay if they rise. [35] In one fund that tracks chip makers, more than 180,000 of these 'put' contracts traded by midday, against 50,000 bets on a rise. [35] One buyer paid $21 million for Nvidia contracts that pay only if its shares fall about 22% by 15 January. [35] The same kind of protection on big tech shares is at its highest since late June. [36]

Why it matters. The bets came a day after AI shares fell, when OpenAI told investors its yearly revenue was running at $50 billion, not the $68 billion widely reported. [37] They show traders are not sure Friday's rebound will last. [36]

Trump and Vice-President JD Vance have backed the Credit Card Competition Act, a bill first proposed in 2022. [40] It would let shops choose a card network other than Visa or Mastercard to handle a credit-card payment. [40] The card networks and banks earn billions of dollars from 'swipe fees' that shops pay on each purchase. [40] Trump has picked the bill up as part of his talk about living costs. [40]

Why it matters. Shops hope for lower fees, while banks fear a hit to their profits. [40] The payments industry says the bill is unlikely to pass and calls Trump's support campaign talk. [40]

The Trades Union Congress, Britain's main group of unions, says a 2023 cut in an extra tax on bank profits has cost the UK government GBP6bn over three years. [43] The surcharge fell from 8% to 3% when the main tax on company profits rose to 25%. [43] Britain's four biggest banks, HSBC, NatWest, Barclays and Lloyds, made GBP200bn in profit before tax over five years, helped by higher interest rates. [43]

Why it matters. The unions want the surcharge raised in the 28 October budget. [43] UK Finance, the banks' lobby group, says higher taxes would cost investment and jobs. [43]

A UK court on Friday quashed the 2018 conviction of Christian Bittar, a former Deutsche Bank trader, for rigging interest rates that banks set together and that fed into mortgages and pensions. [42] He is the eighth trader cleared, two days after five former Barclays traders. [42] The UK Supreme Court opened the way last year, ruling that judges had given juries 'inaccurate and unfair' directions in earlier trials. [42]

Why it matters. It is another defeat for the Serious Fraud Office, the UK agency that brought the cases, which had argued Bittar's conviction was safe. [42] A ninth trader, Peter Johnson, plans to appeal. [42]

National Savings and Investments, the savings bank owned by the UK government, has raised the rates on its fixed-term savings bonds. [45] Its five-year bond now pays 5.17%, up from 4.85%, and its two- and three-year bonds pay just over 5%. [45] Many of its accounts now pay more than 5% for the first time in nearly three years. [45]

Why it matters. Savers can put up to GBP1m in each issue, and the money cannot come out before the term ends. [45] Experts quoted by the Guardian said such deals are often withdrawn once enough money comes in. [45]

Nigeria's finance minister, Taiwo Oyedele, announced a 30-day discount on petrol sold at government-owned pumps. [46] He said it is not a subsidy, a claim analysts widely rejected. [46] President Bola Tinubu ended Nigeria's fuel subsidy three years ago; in 2022 it cost $10 billion, more than the health and education budgets together. [46]

Why it matters. Ending the subsidy raised fuel prices sharply, and the Iran war pushed them higher. [46] Tinubu faces a presidential election in January, with energy prices a main issue. [46]

Shein, the online fashion seller founded in China, raised its UK sales 26% last year to GBP2.58bn, according to accounts filed at Companies House. [44] That is more than the GBP2.47bn that Asos, a British rival, sold worldwide in its last year. [44] Shein ships cheap clothes straight from Chinese factories in parcels small enough to avoid import duty. [44] Britain lets parcels worth GBP135 or less in without customs duty. [44]

Why it matters. Britain has promised to end that rule by 2028, and big retailers want it ended sooner. [44] The US scrapped its own version last year. [44]

Zambia signed a health funding deal in which the US puts up $1.5 billion and Zambia commits $975 million of its own. [48] It had held out for months against US demands to share patients' data and biological samples. [48] Zambia, Africa's second-biggest copper producer, split the health deal off from a minerals deal that is still being negotiated. [48]

Why it matters. US aid fell 57% last year when the old USAID model was dismantled. [48] A study this week found HIV testing fell by more than 60% at four providers in Uganda and Zimbabwe. [48]

The World Bank's twice-yearly report on Africa's economies, published this week, says most African countries should adopt and adapt AI rather than build their own top models. [49] Africa has 18% of the world's people but 0.6% of its data-centre capacity, the World Bank says. [49] Togo has asked its citizens to help AI models learn its 50 local languages. [49]

Why it matters. Global spending on AI is expected to reach $2 trillion this year, says Gartner, a research firm. [49] For now Africa's main link to the boom is selling copper and cobalt. [49]

Opposition to data centres is turning AI into an issue in the 3 November US elections, CNBC reports. [37] Spending on AI buildings and equipment is expected to top $5 trillion by 2030. [37] East Fishkill, a town in New York state, banned big new data centres for three years before any plans were filed. [50] Matt Garman, head of Amazon Web Services, says the industry must explain that data centres run services like Netflix. [51]

Why it matters. Ed Mills of Raymond James, an investment bank, warned that the backlash may get worse after the elections, not better. [37]

The US Department of Homeland Security proposed on Wednesday that universities pay a $70,000 fee so foreign students can work in the US after graduating. [58] The work permit is called Optional Practical Training, and a second period would cost another $30,000. [58] Universities could pass the fee on to students or to employers. [58]

Why it matters. Lawyers said it could put the permit out of reach for many foreign students, whose fees bring money into US universities. [58] It is a proposal, not yet a rule. [58]

Gold futures rose above $4,200 an ounce on Friday and silver above $60, after recent falls in both. [38] Gold had recently touched a two-month low. [38] A weaker dollar and lower US borrowing rates helped, because gold pays no interest and is priced in dollars. [38] Lower oil prices also eased fears about inflation. [38]

Why it matters. Gold tends to rise when traders expect US interest rates to stop climbing, so the US price figures on Wednesday matter for it too. [38][10]