Finance, in brief

Brent, the main world oil price, touched $110 a barrel on Friday for the first time since May. [1] It closed at $109.86, up 3.7% on the day. [2]

West Texas Intermediate, the main US oil price, closed at $101.41, its first finish above $100 in nearly a month. [2] It rose more than 10% over the week, and Brent nearly 5%. [1]

Traders were reacting to more attacks on ships around the Strait of Hormuz, the sea lane most Gulf oil passes through. [1] A missile aimed at Yanbu, a Saudi port that lets oil avoid the strait, was shot down. [3]

Crude oil shipped through Hormuz fell to 9.4 million barrels a day in the week to Wednesday, Kpler, a ship-tracking firm, counted. [1] That is about 70% of the amount before the war. [1]

US stocks of crude also fell by more than 8 million barrels in the week to 9 October, after Hurricane Isaias shut oil wells on the Gulf Coast. [1]

The scarcest fuel is diesel, not crude. [4] Wholesale diesel prices in the US and Europe have more than doubled this year. [4]

In New York, diesel sells for more than $100 a barrel above crude. [4] That gap, called the crack spread, is a measure of what refiners earn. [4]

US drivers paid $6.33 a gallon for diesel on Friday, more than 70% above a year earlier, AAA, a US motoring group, said. [1]

ExxonMobil, the biggest US oil company, said higher refining margins added about $4.5 billion to its July-to-September profit, compared with the three months before. [5] Its shares rose as much as 1.5%. [6]

Lower crude prices in the quarter cut about $1.3 billion from Exxon's oil-pumping profit. [5] So the gain came from making fuel, not from pumping oil. [5]

JB Hunt, a big US trucking company, fell as much as 3.2% after its costs, as a share of sales, came in higher than analysts expected. [6]

A grocery chain told the US central bank's survey of businesses that trucking a head of lettuce from California now costs more than the lettuce itself. [7]

The International Energy Agency, which coordinates rich countries' emergency oil stocks, agreed on Thursday to release more than 20 million more barrels. [2] It says global oil storage is not tight. [2]

On Wall Street, energy and utility shares were the day's biggest gainers while technology shares fell. [8]

Why it matters. Watch next week's count of crude crossing Hormuz, which Kpler put at about 70% of pre-war flows, and Exxon's results on 30 October, which will show how much refiners keep. [1][6]

The Nasdaq, a US share index full of technology firms, fell 2.1% on Friday and 4.5% over the week, its worst week since June. [14] The S&P 500, which tracks 500 big US companies, fell 1.1% on Friday. [14] Chip makers led the fall, and Micron, which makes memory chips, was down 3.9% in morning trading. [23] The VIX, a gauge of how much traders expect share prices to swing, rose above 22 for the first time in four months. [24]

Why it matters. The Dow, an index of 30 big US firms, still rose over the week, because banks and other shares gained while tech fell. [14][25] Tesla, SpaceX and Meta report their profits next week, the next test for AI shares. [24]

CoreWeave, which rents out computers for AI, was on course to lose about a quarter of its share value this week. [26][8] Filings show that its chief executive, Michael Intrator, and entities linked to him have sold nearly $1 billion of its shares since it listed in March 2025. [26] Most of the sales ran under plans set in advance. [26] Buyers of bonds it sold in June at 9.675% a year now demand 15%. [11]

Why it matters. Max Frumes of 9fin, a firm that tracks company debt, expects other AI borrowers to follow CoreWeave into trouble. [11] Jefferies, an investment bank, called the fall overdone, but said new loans may cost CoreWeave more. [27]

Buyers piled into government bonds this week as AI shares fell. [8] The US ten-year bond had its best week since February, and its yield, the yearly return it pays, ended at 5.097%. [14] Bonds of the G7, seven big rich economies, were on course for their strongest week since late May. [8] Short-term US loans did worse: an eight-week Treasury bill auction drew record-low demand at 4.05%, the highest in over a year. [28]

Why it matters. The US Treasury has sold nearly $100 billion of new bills this month to pay for a widening budget deficit. [28] Barclays, a bank, expects more than $320 billion more in the next six weeks. [28]

Prices of goods the US buys from abroad rose 1.1% in September, above the 0.8% economists expected, the US Labor Department said on Friday. [9] Over a year they rose 8.1%, the most since July 2022. [9] These figures leave out tariffs, the US taxes on imports. [9] Imported fuel rose 4.8% in the month, and prices without food and fuel still rose 0.7%. [9]

Why it matters. It came after faster rises in shop and factory prices earlier in the week, so price rises are spreading beyond energy. [9] Markets still expect the US central bank to hold rates in October and raise them in December. [9]

The KBW Bank Index, which tracks 24 big US banks, fell nearly 1% this week, its sixth weekly fall in a row. [12] That is its longest losing run since 2008, and it sits about 13% below its August record. [12] Citigroup, State Street, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley did worst. [12] JPMorgan was the exception, up about 2% for the week. [12]

Why it matters. Herman Chan of Bloomberg Intelligence said rates staying high for longer raise the risk of slower growth and more unpaid loans. [12] He also named AI programs that act for customers as a long-term threat to the cheap deposits banks profit from. [12]

First Horizon, a US bank based in Tennessee, agreed to sell about $4.5 billion of home loans at roughly a 10% discount, it told analysts on Thursday. [29] The loans pay an average of 3.85% a year, low next to today's rates. [29] The sale cost it $473 million, and the bank reported a net loss of about $79 million for the quarter. [29] The buyer was not named. [29]

Why it matters. Its chief executive, Bryan Jordan, said the bank is selling now because it became clear rates are rising. [29] The bank expects the sale to lift its 2027 earnings per share by about 4%. [29]

KLA, Lam Research and Applied Materials make the machines that build computer chips. [30][31][32] By Friday morning KLA and Lam were on course for ten straight days of falls, the longest runs in records going back to the 1980s. [30][31] Lam was down about 22% over those ten days, and Applied Materials about 22% over nine. [31][32] A wider index of chip shares was heading for its steepest eight-day fall since April 2025. [23]

Why it matters. All three were still up 40% to 64% this year on Friday morning, so the fall takes back part of a big rise. [30][31][32] Lam reports its results next week. [25]

Shares in Lloyds fell 1.8% and NatWest 1.5% on Friday, on reports that the UK government will raise its extra tax on bank profits. [16] John Healey, the UK finance minister, is expected to lift it to 8% from 3% in his budget on 28 October. [16] The rise could bring in about GBP2 billion a year, and analysts at KBW say it could cut banks' earnings by 6%. [16] Helge Berger, a senior IMF official, said the UK would do better to trim pension and benefit spending instead. [33]

Why it matters. The four biggest UK banks made GBP29.2 billion in profit in the first half and pledged GBP13.7 billion of it to shareholders. [33] UK Finance, the banks' lobby group, says the tax would leave lending GBP10.4 billion lower by 2029-30. [33]

The Nifty IT index, which tracks India's software and outsourcing firms, rose 11.7% this week, its biggest weekly gain since April 2008. [15] Six of its ten firms gained more than 10%, led by Tech Mahindra at 18.7%. [34] Buyers came back after better-than-expected results, and as money left AI chip shares in South Korea and elsewhere in Asia. [15][35] The rupee closed at 94.96 to the dollar, its first close below 95 in 38 days. [15]

Why it matters. The index is still down about 16% this year, after fears that AI tools would replace outsourcing work. [15][35] Three of the four biggest firms just had their weakest July-to-September quarter in three years. [35]

Fujairah, a port in the United Arab Emirates that lies outside the Strait of Hormuz, is growing fast as trade moves around the strait. [22] Transfers of cargo from one ship to another there rose from a handful before the war to 120 in September. [22] A pipeline from Abu Dhabi, opened in 2012, can carry 1.8 million barrels of crude a day to the port. [22] Lorries queue for about 10 miles to get in. [22]

Why it matters. Insurers say they need six months of stable peace before they cut war-risk premiums there. [22] Off India's coast, Gulf producers made 82 ship-to-ship transfers in September, about 680,000 barrels a day, Vortexa, a ship-tracking firm, counted. [2]

Iran has exported some liquefied petroleum gas, a cooking and heating fuel, and some jet fuel since July despite a US naval blockade, Reuters reported. [36] UANI, a US group that tracks Iran's tankers, counted at least eight gas tankers leaving since mid-July, carrying about 4.1 million barrels. [36] One tanker of jet fuel reached Myanmar in September. [36] Iran's crude exports fell to zero in September, Kpler counted. [36]

Why it matters. A US Treasury spokesperson said such ship data should be treated with caution, because ships can fake their positions. [36] The US military says it turned back 135 ships in the blockade's first three months. [36]

Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, will visit Jamnagar in India on a trip from 17 to 22 October. [10] Jamnagar is the world's largest refinery, owned by Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries, and can process 1.4 million barrels of crude a day. [10] Reliance plans a large new refinery in Texas. [10] Analysts told CNBC that Reliance is well placed to sell diesel to the US. [10]

Why it matters. US diesel prices are near records ahead of November's US elections, and the Trump administration is looking for more fuel. [10] It has already paused sanctions so that Russia can sell diesel abroad. [10]

Trade talks between the US and Mexico ran into trouble this week. [37] Howard Lutnick, the US commerce secretary, objected to big cuts in US tariffs, taxes on imports, on Mexican steel, aluminium and cars. [38][37] Mexico is the biggest trading partner of the US. [37] US talks with India, by contrast, were close to a deal, the US ambassador to India said. [37]

Why it matters. The US, Mexico and Canada trade under one shared agreement. [37] An expert warned that undoing more of it could hurt many US companies and make US goods dearer. [37]

US Treasury officials pressed China this week to let Mastercard and Citigroup do more business there, a US official told CNBC. [18] The meetings were held in Bangkok, Thailand, beside the IMF and World Bank meetings. [18] Mastercard wants to run card payments in China on its own, not through a local partner. [18] Citigroup wants a licence to trade and sell Chinese shares itself. [18]

Why it matters. China approved Visa on 13 October to start preparing its own card network there. [18] Trump and Xi Jinping, China's leader, are expected to meet again in Shenzhen in November. [18]

Insurers owned by Mark Walter, who also owns the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team, rolled six-month loans over and over for years, a Bloomberg analysis found. [39] One $40 million loan made in 2018 was still unpaid last December. [39] US rules ask insurers to set aside as little as 0.39% against some short loans, but up to 30% against risky long ones. [39] Almost all the loans went to firms Walter controls. [39]

Why it matters. The US Justice Department and the SEC, the US market regulator, are looking into why more than $20 billion of loans to Walter's own firms were not disclosed. [39] On Thursday Joshua Wander pleaded guilty to fraud. [40] His firm, 777 Partners, had put insurance customers' money into risky bets, a 2023 Semafor investigation found. [40]

Travelers, a big US insurer, earned $9.18 a share in July to September, against the $7.42 analysts expected. [41] Its shares still fell 4% before trading began on Friday. [41] Investment gains lifted its profit. [42] Alcoa, which makes aluminium, rose more than 2% after beating forecasts, helped by a rebound in alumina, the powder aluminium is made from. [41] Regions Financial, a US bank, said its interest income grew 3.3%. [42]

Why it matters. More companies report next week, and S&P 500 firms are expected to show profit growth of more than 30% for the quarter. [25]

Tesla shares rose about 4% before trading on Friday, after it showed a new Roadster sports car. [43] The car uses air thrusters built with SpaceX, Elon Musk's rocket company, and leapt into the air in a filmed demonstration. [44][43] Production is due in 2028, at a price above $200,000. [44] SpaceX shares rose 1%. [43]

Why it matters. On Kalshi, a betting market, the odds of Tesla and SpaceX merging before March rose to 56% from 29%. [45] Barclays now expects a merger could be announced before Tesla's yearly shareholder meeting, due by 6 December. [45]

A planned merger of Perella Weinberg Partners and Piper Sandler, two firms that advise companies on deals, has fallen apart, Semafor reported. [46] Perella's top bankers were offered $2.5 million in shares to stay for up to three years. [46] Other partners were offered $500,000 to $1.5 million. [46] Many called the offers far too low next to the millions they earn each year. [46]

Why it matters. Perella's shares have lost half their value since early last year. [46] Recruiters at rival banks are already calling its bankers, Semafor said. [46]

Foreign holdings of US Treasuries, the US government's bonds, rose more than $83 billion in August to $9.33 trillion, US data showed on Friday. [47] Canada added $38 billion and Belgium nearly $20 billion. [47] Japan, the biggest holder, cut $36 billion to $1.1 trillion. [47] China's holdings fell $27 billion to $591 billion, an 18-year low, and Britain's passed $1 trillion for the first time. [47]

Why it matters. The figures count price changes as well as buying and selling. [47] Some analysts think China now buys through other countries such as Canada. [47]

India's Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a lower court's ruling against Yes Bank's write-off of 84.15 billion rupees of AT-1 bonds during its 2020 rescue. [17] AT-1 bonds are risky bank bonds that can be cancelled if a bank gets into trouble. [17] Yes Bank said its core capital ratio, the share of its own money held against losses, could fall by about 2.5 percentage points. [17] Its shares fell 14% on Thursday and 3.4% more on Friday. [17]

Why it matters. Yes Bank, India's central bank and India's government had all appealed, and lost. [17] S&P Global, a ratings firm, said Yes Bank's 13.87% ratio can take the hit and stay well above the 5.5% minimum. [17]

The World Bank plans to grow its work on critical minerals, metals needed for batteries and power lines, fivefold in five years. [48] Its president, Ajay Banga, said so in Bangkok on Friday. [48] It aims for $19 billion of such financing in 2026-2030, against $3.6 billion in 2021-2025. [48] It has named 20 countries it could work with. [48]

Why it matters. Banga said the goal is to build mining and processing inside producing countries, so they keep more of the jobs and money. [48] He also launched 'small AI', cheap AI tools for farmers, teachers and health workers in poorer countries. [48]

SelectUSA, a US Commerce Department programme that courts foreign companies, says it has secured $280 billion of investment under Trump, across more than 345 projects. [49] Officials said that beats the $255 billion it brought in over the dozen-plus years before. [49] Investors include South Korea's Korea Zinc and Japan's Isuzu Motors. [49] An official said tariffs were used to win investment promises from other countries. [49]

Why it matters. The figures are the programme's own count, given out less than three weeks before the US elections. [49]

Dangote Refinery, Africa's largest, will offer its shares in Egypt as well as Botswana and Kenya, through depositary receipts, certificates that stand for shares listed elsewhere. [19] The sale began in Nigeria in mid-September and aims to raise $1.6 billion, with a cap of $2.1 billion. [19] Aliko Dangote, its owner, said orders came to three or four times the target. [19] The deadline moved two weeks, to 27 October. [19]

Why it matters. The lowest price is 40 cents a share, set so that small savers can join. [19] It is Africa's biggest share sale, and policymakers see it as a sign that ordinary buyers can deepen Africa's stock markets. [19]

International Resources Holding (IRH), an Abu Dhabi company, and ZCCM-IH, Zambia's state mining company, said they had settled a dispute over Mopani Copper Mines. [50] In September ZCCM-IH had accused IRH of not putting in money it owed and of taking on debt without approval. [50] IRH paid $620 million in 2024 for 51% of Mopani. [50] The statement left the funding questions open. [50]

Why it matters. Zambia wants to more than triple its copper output to 3 million tonnes a year. [50] IRH aims to lift Mopani's output from 66,369 tonnes in 2025 to 300,000 by 2029. [50]

Cascador, a Nigerian investment firm, and Sterling Bank launched a $200 million fund to lend to small and medium-sized businesses. [20] Each business can borrow up to $1 million from it. [20] Cascador found that only 22% of firms in sub-Saharan Africa have a bank loan or credit line, against 36% worldwide. [20] Small and medium firms make up more than 90% of African businesses. [20]

Why it matters. Africa's small firms are short of finance by an estimated $331 billion, so one fund fills only a sliver of the gap. [20]