Weekly Financial News — October 24, 2026

🌍 Dominant theme of the week

The week of October 19 to 23, 2026 was dominated by a fresh surge in energy prices and by strain on French government debt. Brent gained 6% over five sessions after Houthi attacks on Saudi energy sites, according to Reuters. In Paris, the 10-year OAT yield rose above 5% on Wednesday for the first time since 2002, and its spread over the Bund reached its widest since 2011, according to AFP and Reuters. Moody’s kept France’s rating at Aa3 late on Friday, while most analysts had expected a downgrade, Reuters reported. Doubts over artificial intelligence spending weighed on the Nasdaq for a second week.

📉 Weekly market performance

Closes on Friday, October 23, 2026, and weekly change.

Changes from Reuters, cross-checked against the October 16 closes. STOXX 600: level from Yahoo Finance, range between Reuters and a calculation on that level. Nikkei 225: calculated from Yahoo Finance closes.

• The CAC 40 falls further than its European neighbours – The Paris index lost 2.19% on the week, including 0.36% on Friday, according to Reuters, while the DAX ended the week flat according to Zonebourse. Kering plunged 16.57% on Friday, and Charlotte de Montpellier of ING told AFP of “a French fear that is there, beyond companies and results”.
• Wall Street ends a turbulent week in mixed fashion – The Nasdaq fell 2.60% on Thursday, its steepest drop since June, before steadying on Friday, while the Dow Jones gained 0.41% on the week on the back of defensive stocks, according to Reuters and Yahoo Finance.
• Tokyo loses more than 4% over the week – The Nikkei 225 closed on Friday at 62,693.16, against 65,324.29 a week earlier, according to Yahoo Finance and Boursorama. The index fell in four of the five sessions, including 2.65% on Thursday according to Yahoo Finance, with AFP citing concern over the cost of AI investment.

🛢️ Commodities & Energy

• Brent climbs 6% after attacks in Saudi Arabia – Brent settled on Friday at $116.72, up $3.55 on the session, its highest close since April 29, according to Reuters. The Houthis targeted Saudi energy infrastructure, and Saudi Aramco evacuated its Dhahran headquarters on Thursday, Reuters reported.
• WTI climbs back above $103 a barrel – US crude settled on Friday at $103.27, up 3.8% on the session, according to Reuters and Zonebourse, and up 2.3% on the week, according to Reuters.
• Gold falls almost 4% despite the tensions – Gold ended near $3,994 an ounce on Friday, against about $4,165 a week earlier, according to Trading Economics. The same source attributes the decline to higher oil prices, which reinforce expectations that US interest rates will stay high for longer.
• European gas posts a fourth straight weekly gain – Dutch TTF rose above €93 per megawatt-hour on Friday, up more than 6% on the week, with European storage 74.62% full, according to Trading Economics. Aluminium gained about 1.3% on the week to $3,047.30 a tonne.

🏦 Central banks

• The Fed is expected to hold before a possible December hike – Markets price about a 10% chance of a hike at the October 27-28 meeting, according to CME’s FedWatch tool cited by Trading Economics. The probability of a December increase stood at 81% on Friday, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters, and the 10-year Treasury yield ended at 5.00%.
• The ECB is expected to hold rates on October 29 – The deposit rate has stood at 2.50% since September 16, after two increases in June and September, according to the ECB. Reuters and Trading Economics expect no change next Thursday.
• London and Tokyo move closer to further tightening – Markets expect at least three Bank of England rate increases by April 2027, the first possibly on November 5, according to Trading Economics, with Bank Rate at 3.75%. The Bank of Japan is expected to hold on October 30, with many analysts polled by Reuters forecasting a hike to 1.5% in December.
• Manila raises its key rate while Moscow holds steady – The Philippine central bank raised its policy rate by 50 basis points to 5.5% on Thursday, more than expected, according to Nikkei Asia and The Philippine Star. The Bank of Russia kept its rate at 14% on Friday, according to its statement.

📊 Macro data

• Activity slows in the euro zone and contracts in France – The euro zone flash composite PMI fell to 51.9 in October from 53.1 in September, against 52.7 expected, according to S&P Global data cited by Trading Economics and RTÉ. In France, the services PMI dropped to 48.4 from 51.2, according to Trading Economics and Zonebourse.
• UK inflation rises to 3.5% in September – Consumer prices rose 3.5% year on year, after 3.1% in August and against 3.4% expected, according to the ONS and Trading Economics. Core inflation rose to 2.8% and services inflation to 3.7%, with motor fuels up 29.8% on the year.
• China posts 4.5% growth in the third quarter – China’s GDP grew 4.5% year on year, after 4.3% in the second quarter and against 4.4% expected, according to the National Bureau of Statistics and Trading Economics. Retail sales rose only 1.1% in September, against 5.5% for industrial output.
• Japanese core inflation climbs back above 2 percent – Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 2.1% year on year in September, after 1.7% in August, according to Reuters and Trading Economics. It is the first reading above the Bank of Japan’s target in nine months, according to Reuters.
• US consumer sentiment is revised higher in October – The University of Michigan index was revised to 48.0 in October, from 46.3 in the preliminary estimate and 48.1 in September, according to Trading Economics and Reuters. One-year inflation expectations rose to 4.7% and five-year expectations to 3.5%.

🪙 Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin hovers around the $81,000 mark – Bitcoin peaked at $84,840 on Wednesday before slipping back to between $81,000 and $82,000 on Friday, according to Yahoo Finance and FXStreet, against $81,500 on October 16. Alternative.me’s Fear & Greed index fell from 68 on Wednesday to 50 on Friday.
• Bitcoin funds return to net inflows this week – US spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds took in $442.67 million in net inflows from Monday to Thursday, ending two weeks of outflows, according to SoSoValue cited by FXStreet. That total includes more than $600 million of outflows on Thursday, according to the same source.
• Strategy keeps buying with 267 more bitcoins – Strategy acquired 267 bitcoins between October 12 and 18 at an average price of $82,900, bringing its holdings to 848,517 bitcoins, according to a filing made with the SEC on Monday.

💱 Currencies

• The euro slips towards $1.12 over the week – The euro traded between $1.1197 and $1.1202 on Friday, according to Reuters and Trading Economics, against about $1.124 a week earlier.
• Sterling near a one-month high as the yen firms – The pound was worth about $1.338 on Friday, close to its strongest level in a month, according to Trading Economics. The dollar traded near 156.9 yen, against about 158 a week earlier, after a dip towards 156.4, the yen’s strongest level since September.

📈 Investment themes & analysis

• Meta revives doubts over spending on artificial intelligence – Meta reported quarterly revenue of $64.6 billion on Wednesday, up 26%, and narrowed its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to between $135 billion and $145 billion, according to its release. The stock lost nearly 7% on Thursday, according to Al Jazeera, and Kristina Hooper of Man Group told Reuters that such investment could slow next year.
• SpaceX reports its first profit as a listed company – SpaceX reported quarterly revenue of about $14.6 billion on Tuesday, up 161%, and net profit of $4.4 billion, according to AFP and Anadolu. Elon Musk called a merger with Tesla “a good idea”, according to AFP. On Friday AT&T lost 7.95% and T-Mobile 7.71% on reports of a SpaceX mobile network plan, according to Reuters and Anadolu.
• Luxury stocks slide in Paris after Kering’s results – Kering lost 16.57% on Friday after quarterly revenue of €3.345 billion, down 1% on a comparable basis, according to AFP and Zonebourse, with Gucci down 6%. Hermès fell 4.94% on Thursday and 3.96% on Friday, according to AFP.
• Sharply contrasting results within the CAC 40 – EssilorLuxottica jumped 15.48% on Wednesday on its smart glasses, while Carrefour fell 13.80% after cutting its targets, according to AFP and Zonebourse. On Friday L’Oréal gained 5.64% on sales up 7.7%, and Safran lost 10% on a slowdown in civil engine aftermarket sales, according to Zonebourse and Reuters.

🔭 Observed trends

• The French risk premium settles above 5 percent – The 10-year OAT went from 4.80% on October 16 to 5.07% on Thursday, then between 5.01% and 5.04% on Friday, according to AFP, Reuters and Zonebourse, and its spread over the Bund approached 170 basis points according to Zonebourse. Reuters noted that France already borrows at a higher cost than Italy, which is rated lower.
• Oil keeps rising while gold pulls back – Brent went from about $100 on October 2 to $109.86 on October 16, then to $116.72, while gold lost almost 4% this week.
• Europe joins Wall Street in retreat this week – After a week in which the CAC 40 gained 1.97% while the Nasdaq lost 4.48%, both fell this time, Paris more than Wall Street and the STOXX 600. Energy held up, with TotalEnergies up 4.34% on Friday according to Zonebourse, and the S&P 500 energy sector touching an intraday record according to Reuters.

This content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Consult a qualified financial adviser before making any investment decision.

Weekly financial bulletin automatically generated on October 24, 2026.