2025-10-17 10:04

Q3 earnings pick up, Netflix on Tuesday, Tesla due Wednesday Delayed Sept CPI release out on Friday Focus also on US-China trade developments, regional banks NEW YORK, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Earnings reports next week, including from Tesla (TSLA.O) , opens new tab and Netflix (NFLX.O) , opens new tab, will provide a deeper look at U.S. corporate profits while delayed U.S. inflation data will mark another test of the stock market, which has become shakier even as it remains around record highs. The fourth year of the S&P 500's (.SPX) , opens new tab bull run kicked off this week with some significant gyrations after a long period of market calm. Sign up here. Revived U.S.-China trade tensions and credit concerns at regional U.S. banks drove the anxiety. The CBOE market volatility index (.VIX) , opens new tab, known as Wall Street's "fear gauge", has surged in recent days and hit its highest level in nearly six months on Friday. "The market is becoming more volatile, but it's also coming off of a very non-volatile period where we didn't have a lot of risk catalysts bubbling to the top," said Michael Reynolds, vice president of investment strategy at Glenmede. "Once you have valuations hit sort of full levels, as we're seeing now almost across the board, you have to be on the lookout for incremental risk catalysts." The spark for the latest volatility was a surprise resurgence in U.S.-China trade tensions. Stocks slumped late last week after the U.S. threatened to significantly hike tariffs by November 1 over China's rare-earth export controls. The U.S.-China trade issue will be key for markets in the coming week, said Doug Beath, global equity strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed on Friday that he would meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in two weeks in South Korea. Sharp swings in global financial shares to end the week also kept investors on edge as they weighed the extent of credit concerns emerging from regional U.S. banks. Major stock indexes posted weekly gains and are on pace for strong years. The benchmark S&P 500 is up 13.3% year-to-date and 1.3% below its record high. But there are signs the market is weakening under the surface. The percentage of S&P 500 stocks in some form of an uptrend declined from 77% in early July to 57% as of Tuesday while the number of stocks in a downtrend increased from 23% to 44% over that time, according to Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist for LPL Financial. That "narrowing gap highlights emerging cracks in the market’s foundation," Turnquist said in written commentary. Similarly, Kevin Gordon, senior investment strategist at Charles Schwab, said he will be watching how broadly based the market's gains are going forward. "If you have a fewer number of companies that are actually moving higher, but the indexes do move higher because of the megacaps, that's a really important divergence," Gordon said. Attention will be on third-quarter earnings after major banks started the reporting season on a strong note. Aside from streaming giant Netflix and electric vehicle maker Tesla, other companies due to report in the coming week include consumer companies Procter & Gamble (PG.N) , opens new tab and Coca-Cola (KO.N) , opens new tab, aerospace and defense giant RTX (RTX.N) , opens new tab and tech stalwart IBM (IBM.N) , opens new tab. The corporate results and executive comments will offer insight into the economy as the U.S. government shutdown has stopped economic data releases since October 1, including monthly employment data. Corporate "reports and what companies say is really our best chance at assessing what the broader economic health is," Gordon said. The government has said it will release the U.S. consumer price index for September on Friday, nine days late, saying the CPI data allows the Social Security Administration to meet deadlines for timely payment of benefits. The CPI report, which is a closely watched inflation gauge, will be released days before the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy meeting on October 28-29. The U.S. central bank is widely expected to cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point again, after weakening jobs data prompted the Fed to lower rates last month for the first time this year. "We'd really have to see something out of left field in terms of notable inflation pressures to knock the Fed off of a rate cut path at the October meeting," Glenmede's Reynolds said. https://www.reuters.com/business/wall-st-week-ahead-tests-coming-rocky-market-tesla-netflix-delayed-cpi-report-2025-10-17/

2025-10-17 09:43

TOKYO, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Japan's three largest banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.T) , opens new tab, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (8316.T) , opens new tab and Mizuho Financial Group (8411.T) , opens new tab, will jointly issue "stablecoins", digital currencies pegged to the value of real-world currencies, the Nikkei business daily reported on Friday. The banks will build a structure for their corporate clients to allow for stablecoins to be transferred between them along uniform standards, initially issuing a yen-pegged coin and potentially a dollar-pegged coin in the future, the Nikkei said. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/japans-top-banks-jointly-issue-stablecoin-nikkei-says-2025-10-17/

2025-10-17 09:15

LONDON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Sterling fell on Friday, as investors rushed to safe-haven currencies like the Swiss franc and Japanese yen in light of growing anxiety over the outlook for the U.S. economy, regional banks and global trade tensions. The pound fell 0.13% to $1.34225, though it was still headed for a weekly rise of 0.7%. Against the Swiss franc , the pound fell 0.5% to 1.0594 francs, its weakest since late 2022. Sign up here. The dollar came under broad pressure, partly from investors seeking what they perceive to be a safer alternative currency, but also from the expectation that the Federal Reserve will need to cut rates by a percentage point in the coming six months. A government shutdown has cut off the supply of key data releases, but other metrics are pointing to a slowing labour market and more muted economic activity. The British economy, meanwhile, just about managed to return to growth in August, offering finance minister Rachel Reeves some relief ahead of her budget that is due in late November. That said, the International Monetary Fund said this week that Britain's economy was on course to have the second-fastest growth among the Group of Seven nations in 2025, after the United States, and the Bank of England should be cautious in its approach to rate cuts. The BOE, which is juggling persistent inflation with meagre economic growth, is not expected to cut rates again until at least February or March. "With a sparse UK calendar today, sterling's path will depend on U.S. speaker tones and any Bank of England observations amid looming fiscal budget preparations," strategists at Monex said. A slower pace of cuts from the BOE has provided support to sterling, which is up by nearly 7.5% against the dollar this year. Yet deep-seated concern among investors about the ability of Reeves to keep Britain's finances on track have tempered gains and weighed on the government bond market this year. Her November budget is expected to bring with it more tax increases and spending cuts, which in turn may stifle things like consumer spending and business activity. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/pound-struggles-investors-flock-safe-havens-2025-10-17/

2025-10-17 08:27

LONDON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Shares of Man Group (EMG.L) , opens new tab hit a six-month high on Friday, after the hedge fund posted a 22% increase in assets under management to a record $213.9 billion in the 12 months to September 30, beating expectations, over a year of intense market volatility. Analysts had expected a rise in assets to $201.7 billion, according to Jefferies (JEF.N) , opens new tab. Sign up here. Shares in Man Group were recently up 2.6% in London, at their highest point since early April. Man Group took in $10 billion of investment performance, a 177% jump from the previous quarter, accounting for half of the capital that was added to its assets under management since the second quarter of 2025. "It was a big quarter for net flows, easily exceeding our - or market - expectations," Rae Maile, a research analyst at broker Panmure Liberum, said. "Importantly there was no 'one big win' in this quarter, but (there is) evidence of continued strong growth in areas which the company did not play in a few years ago, most notably credit," Maile said. Assets under management (AUM) include a combination of new client flows, performance and leverage. Man Group, which operates a host of different strategies and funds, posted its strongest performance in its long-only strategies. These funds trade emerging and developed markets equities and bonds, only betting that these assets will rise in value. Man Group's systematic long-only funds added $4.8 billion in investment performance and saw $6.5 billion in new client cash. Hedge fund returns so far this year show a stark divide between those that have been able to navigate U.S. President Donald Trump's erratic decision making and switch tactics quickly and those hemmed in by algorithmic strategies. Systematic hedge funds, whose algorithms ride market trends until they peter out, have clawed back earlier losses, but are still down around 2% for the year to September-end, according to a Societe Generale report this week. Hedge funds tracked by research firm PivotalPath, which covers the wider industry, returned over 8% in the nine months to the end of September. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/man-group-shares-jump-assets-under-management-rise-22-record-2025-10-17/

2025-10-17 07:09

Oil prices set for weekly loss, IEA forecasts rising glut Trump and Putin plan summit on Ukraine, cease-fire halts fighting in Gaza Concerns mount over economic slowdown, lower energy demand HOUSTON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Oil prices managed small gains on Friday but were headed for a weekly loss of nearly 3% after the IEA forecast a growing glut and U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to meet again to discuss Ukraine. Brent crude futures settled at $61.29 a barrel, up 23 cents, or 0.38%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures finished at $57.54 a barrel, up 8 cents, or 0.14%. Sign up here. Trump and Putin agreed on Thursday to another summit on the war in Ukraine, to be held in the next two weeks in Hungary. That comes on top of a cease-fire agreement ending, at least temporarily, the fighting in Gaza between Israel and Hamas. was headed to the White House on Friday to push for more military support, including U.S.-made long-range Tomahawk missiles, while Washington pressured India and China to stop buying Russian oil. "We've had the once-in-a-generation peace deal in the Middle East, Iran is neutralized and now Ukraine; an unprecedented amount of risk has come out of the market," said Phil Flynn, senior analyst with Price Futures Group. This week's decline was also partly due to rising trade tensions between the U.S. and China, which added to concerns about an economic slowdown and lower energy demand. "It just demolishes confidence," said Jorge Montepeque, managing director at Onyx Capital Group, who expects the U.S. economy will quickly be affected. On Friday, a fire overnight at BP Plc's (BP.L) , opens new tab Whiting, Indiana, refinery was expected to affect only the Midwest market, Flynn said. Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy, said the market around the Great Lakes was expected to jump. "Great Lakes spot gasoline prices spiking on the BP refinery fire overnight, could lead to prices cycling soon," DeHaan posted on X. "For now, wholesale prices pointing to about a 20 cent a gallon rise." Limiting crude prices was the International Energy Agency's outlook for a growing supply glut in 2026. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Thursday that U.S. crude inventories increased by 3.5 million barrels last week, to 423.8 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 288,000-barrel rise. The bigger-than-expected build in crude inventory was largely due to lower refining utilization as refineries go into autumn turnarounds. The data also showed a rise in U.S. production to 13.636 million barrels per day, the highest on record. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-set-weekly-loss-trump-putin-summit-looms-2025-10-17/

2025-10-17 07:05

Oct 17 (Reuters) - Oilfield services provider Petrofac (PFC.L) , opens new tab said on Friday its ongoing restructuring would leave existing shareholders with no residual value, as it moves to complete the process by November-end. Petrofac is restructuring its finances under pressure from rising costs and delayed payments, a move that reflects wider challenges facing oilfield service firms in a volatile energy market. Sign up here. It said its chosen restructuring route, aimed to support operational capability and ongoing delivery, is progressing well, with a lock-up agreement expected shortly. The company develops and operates infrastructure for oil, gas, refining, petrochemicals, and renewable energy. In its October 1 update, Petrofac had said it was pursuing multiple restructuring routes, some potentially leaving shareholders with no residual value, and that the final path would be determined by creditor input. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/uks-petrofacs-restructuring-plan-leave-shareholders-empty-handed-2025-10-17/