News

Shell's CFO: Refined oil prices need to remain high for a longer period of time before we see demand truly destroyed.

Alphabet (GOOG.O) fell 10% in pre-market trading after quarterly revenue missed expectations and cash burn intensified.

JPMorgan Chase lowered its price target for Alphabet (GOOG.O) from $425 to $375.

Data and institutional calculations show that Russia's seaborne imports of automotive fuel increased by 18% month-on-month in October, reaching 430,000 tons.

1. Wells Fargo: Expects the ECB to keep the deposit rate unchanged at 2.50%. The focus of the meeting will be whether the ECB signals that "tighter funding conditions require more patience," while maintaining policy flexibility without completely closing the door to rate hikes. We still consider a December rate hike as our baseline scenario. 2. Mitsubishi UFJ: Expects the ECB to keep the deposit rate unchanged at 2.50%. With rising sovereign bond yields and overall tightening financial conditions, policymakers have reduced their urgency to act. Our baseline scenario remains a further 50 basis point rate hike, with the next rate hike expected in December. 3. Danske Bank: Expects the ECB to keep the deposit rate unchanged at 2.50%. We expect the ECB to implement a final 25 basis point rate hike in December, bringing the deposit rate to a peak of 2.75%, and maintaining that level throughout 2027. It is worth noting whether Lagarde will formally announce her early resignation. 4. Morgan Stanley: We expect the ECB to keep interest rates unchanged, mainly because policymakers need more data to reassess the current policy stance. We expect the ECB to signal that it is closely monitoring changes in sovereign bond yields, but is not yet concerned to the point of needing a direct policy response. 5. Rabobank: There are currently no signs that energy inflation is spreading to the broader areas of wages and price setting. The ECB does not need to accelerate the pace of interest rate hikes and can wait until December to take action. 6. Nordea: We expect the ECB to keep interest rates unchanged, with the next rate hike likely in December. The market's focus is on how the ECB will respond to the sell-off of French government bonds and tightening financing conditions. The baseline forecast remains that the ECB will raise interest rates by 25 basis points each in December and March 2027, bringing the deposit rate to 3.00%. 7. Nordea Bank: Expects the ECB to keep interest rates unchanged. Based on recent statements from officials and current market pricing, a 25 basis point rate hike in December remains the baseline scenario, with a possible further 25 basis point hike in March next year. The October meeting is more likely to be seen as a "mid-term checkpoint" between the two rounds of macroeconomic forecasts in September and December. 8. Brown Brothers Harman: Expects the ECB to keep the deposit rate unchanged at 2.50%. Underlying inflation in the Eurozone and tightening financial conditions have given policymakers room to wait; however, resilient economic activity and the expectation that inflation will remain above target for an extended period solidify the expectation of a December rate hike to 2.75%.

Danske Bank strategists said equities rose on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and STOXX 600 higher and AI-related names posting a third straight session of gains. After-hours results from Alphabet and Microsoft showed divergence between AI-related revenue and capex. Danske flagged that capex guidance remained steady, which could constrain further upside in data-center and semiconductor chains driven by upward earnings revisions. Overall market reaction to the big cloud reports was marginally negative: KOSPI fell 0.7% and Nasdaq futures were down 0.9%—moves that, given recent extreme volatility in AI names, are relatively modest.

Morgan Stanley raised its price target for Microsoft (MSFT.O) from $600 to $650.

The Central Bank of Azerbaijan predicts that oil prices will be $92.8 per barrel in 2026 and $82.8 per barrel in 2027.

Hong Kong-listed Brainwave Aurora-B (06681.HK) continued its downward trend, falling more than 16%, after previously rising more than 20%.

Glencore: Gold production in the third quarter was 94,000 ounces, and silver production was 3.992 million ounces.

Rear Admiral Jalil Moghaddam, Deputy Coordinator of the Iranian Army and Navy: The Iranian Army and Navy have successfully conducted more than 20 operations against US ships. In addition, Iran has conducted approximately 300 operations against US targets using missiles and drones in multiple regions. On the first day of the attack on our country, we used existing systems to monitor and identify the location of US ships. Within the first two days of the outbreak of war, we located the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier. We identified it both visually and using existing systems, and subsequently struck the ship with strategic cruise missiles.

According to RIA Novosti, Rosatom, the Russian state-owned nuclear energy corporation, is discussing with the United States the possibility of cooperating in the field of small nuclear power plants to power artificial intelligence data centers.

The UK Maritime Trade Organization has received a report of an incident in the Strait of Hormuz, 9 nautical miles north of Hasab, Oman. The captain of a third-party vessel reported finding a fire on board and the condition of the crew unknown.

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that 1,214 Ukrainian drones were shot down in various regions of Russia overnight.

According to Politico: The EU and Canada set out to strengthen bilateral relations at the Montreal summit today.

According to CNN: A spokesperson for General Dan Kane, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed that Lieutenant General Brett Silvia, director of the J5 division responsible for strategy, planning, and policy affairs for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has abruptly resigned.

According to South Korea's Newsis news agency, the South Korean presidential office held an emergency meeting regarding North Korea's missile launch, aiming to urge North Korea to cease the launch. This comes after the Japan Coast Guard stated that North Korea launched an object suspected to be a ballistic missile.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index closed up 40.90 points, or 0.46%, at 8888.20 on Thursday, October 29.

According to CNN: In a letter dated Tuesday, U.S. Department of Defense Inspector General Pratt Morin said that senators’ questions about the production slowdown and its impact should be directed to the U.S. Air Force and Space Force.

According to CNN: A letter shows that the U.S. Department of Defense oversight agency rejected a bipartisan request to investigate the slowdown of SpaceX's military-grade Starlink system in Ukraine.