Markets recovered some ground on Monday as investors returned to artificial-intelligence related shares after last week’s sharp pullback in one of the most crowded trades. A gauge of chip giants rose 2.3 percent and the Nasdaq 100 advanced 1.4 percent, with CoreWeave Inc. gaining 2 percent after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. recommended buying the shares following a recent plunge. Dip buyers emerged on the view that the AI investment boom will continue to support solid earnings. This week’s results from Meta Platforms Inc. will offer a fresh test of that confidence, while Tesla Inc. is also scheduled to report. The industry is still set to account for nearly 70 percent of global earnings growth next year, according to Citigroup Inc. Mark Haefele at UBS Chief Investment Office said results will show whether strong profit growth can restore confidence in the equity rally, adding that the firm continues to expect resilient growth and earnings to support equities while seeing attractive opportunities in quality bonds. Morgan Stanley’s Michael Wilson advised investors to prepare to add risk as a months-long pullback in parts of the equity market nears an end, writing that the time to add risk rather than shun it will come either through a very rapid reconciliation or a slower bleed into November.
Oil prices fell from a five-month high after a blistering rally fueled by a flare-up in fighting across the Middle East, though the decline was not enough to bring much relief to the fixed-income market. French bonds came under pressure after a weekend of violent unrest, with the nation’s debt underperforming its European peers. The spread between the French 10-year yield and its German equivalent widened by as much as eight basis points to 146 basis points, the highest in two weeks, while the gap to Italian yields reached a fresh record. The euro weakened and the CAC 40 stocks index fell 1.5 percent. Louis-Vincent Gave at Gavekal Research described France as confronting a social crisis, an immigration crisis, an energy crisis, an economic crisis and a fiscal crisis at a time when the French president is in office but not in power. Nothing that occurred over the weekend, he said, seemed to point the way toward a higher euro or lower French bond yields. Investors increasingly see French government bonds as riskier than those of Germany, which is generally treated as the euro area’s safest borrower. The French-German yield spread is approaching 150 basis points, pushing further into territory associated with the euro-area debt crisis. During the most extreme periods of the recent selloff in French debt, the spread neared 160 basis points. Erik Liem at Commerzbank AG said that while the violent protests are not representative of the vast majority of the people, the developments over the weekend underscore the delicate balancing act the government is facing between appeasing the people and the markets. Moody’s review of France’s sovereign rating on Friday will provide another signpost for the country’s fiscal health, with a downgrade seen as the more likely next move given its negative outlook. Moody’s currently ranks France one notch higher than Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings.
White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said prices have been falling for items such as beef and eggs, though consumer price data for September shows overall inflation continues to need policy attention. If you look at the previous three months, it looked like inflation was completely under control, and now it looks like it’s sort of back needing some work, Hassett told CNBC. Data last week showed consumer prices advanced in September at the fastest pace in five months and a gauge of underlying price pressures rose by more than expected. The consumer price index rose 0.6 percent from a month earlier while a key measure of underlying price pressures, which excludes food and energy, was up 0.3 percent. This is either a sort of break from the downtrend or a blip, Hassett said. Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh last week did nothing to dispel market expectations that the central bank will hold interest rates steady when it meets at the end of the month. In a moderated discussion at the International Monetary Fund’s annual meetings, Warsh made no remarks on monetary policy or his outlook for the US economy, apart from reiterating that the Fed will deliver price stability. Hassett said he respects the central bank’s independence and said Warsh will do what he thinks is the right thing. People are really euphoric about how well the economy is doing, and they’re spending more, and of course, that’s the kind of thing the Fed needs to pay attention to, Hassett said.
Confidence among US homebuilders this month slumped to a 14-year low as mortgage rates above 7 percent, labor shortages and elevated supply costs batter the housing market. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo gauge of housing market conditions fell 3 points to 29, the lowest since June 2012. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists was 31. A reading below 50 indicates more builders see conditions as poor than good. The index has stayed below that level for more than two years. A measure of current sales dropped to 33, also a 14-year low. A gauge of expected sales over the next six months, one of the index’s core inputs, declined to the weakest level since November 2022. The prospective buyer traffic index slid to the lowest since the onset of the pandemic. The gloomy outlook reflects a deteriorating market for homebuilders, as rising borrowing costs suppress buyer demand and new-home inventory remains elevated. The dual pressures have forced builders to offer discounts and expand incentives to lure customers, squeezing operating margins. Housing remains squeezed by supply-side constraints and significant affordability challenges, Robert Dietz, NAHB chief economist, said in a statement. Demand persists, but higher mortgage rates, elevated construction costs and weaker consumer confidence are keeping more buyers on the sidelines. The share of builders that reported cutting prices climbed to 43 percent. About two-thirds reported using incentives this month, according to the NAHB survey. Investors remain pessimistic about the sector. The iShares US Home Construction ETF, which includes homebuilders and materials companies, has steadily declined over the past three months. The NAHB report showed builder confidence in the South was the weakest since mid-2012, while sentiment in the West slumped 10 points to the lowest since the end of 2011. Builder confidence also slipped in the Midwest but rose in the Northeast. The federal government will provide a glimpse into housing starts and building permits on Tuesday, while the National Association of Realtors will release pending-home sales for last month.
In Canada, the inflation rate ticked up to 3.1 percent in September as gasoline prices rose, while some gauges of underlying price pressures eased. Gasoline prices rose 27.8 percent on an annual basis last month compared with a slower pace of 22.8 percent in August, Statistics Canada reported. Excluding food and energy, the inflation rate held at 2.1 percent. Meanwhile, the Bank of Canada’s median and trim measures of core inflation edged down to 1.9 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively. The consumer price index increased 0.1 percent on a monthly basis. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected the headline inflation rate to tick up to 3.2 percent in September from 3 percent in August, and yearly change for the Bank of Canada’s preferred core measures to remain the same. The Canadian dollar trimmed its gains of the day after the report. It still remained stronger on the day against the US currency, trading 0.3 percent up to C$1.4101. The loonie advanced about 1 percent in October so far. Traders in overnight swaps placed the odds of a rate hike this month at nearly 70 percent prior to the CPI release, and edged back slightly after the smaller-than-expected increase in price growth. On Saturday, Governor Tiff Macklem said he’s seeing more evidence that higher oil prices are supporting economic growth in Canada, and the bank’s inflation outlook is expected to be higher when it offers its new forecast in the monetary policy report later this month. Following the hawkish tone of Governor Macklem’s comments over the weekend, markets had moved to price in a greater chance of a rate hike later this month, but today’s CPI data suggests that there is little rush and policymakers can take more time to assess how US trade relations and the impact of new tariffs develop before raising rates, said Andrew Grantham, senior economist at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Still, along with the slowdown in core measures of inflation, the release will likely give some relief to the Bank of Canada ahead of its interest rate decision next week. The central bank has been increasingly concerned about the inflationary risks of the Iran war, but has also been mindful of the economic impact US tariffs continue to pose on Canada. Macklem has warned that waiting too long to raise interest rates may force the central bank to have to increase its policy rate faster and higher than it otherwise would have. At the same time, recent labor force data has underscored some of the economic vulnerabilities Canada faces as the US trade war drags on. Employment fell in Canada by 41,200 since December 2025, the largest year-to-date loss since the 2009 financial crisis, excluding 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition to the slowdown in core measures, the share of CPI components rising at 3 percent or higher fell to 29.2 percent from 34.2 percent in August. There is little evidence higher energy costs are bleeding through to broader price pressures, which remain mild, TD senior economist Leslie Preston said. The Bank of Canada will release its business and consumer outlook surveys later this morning, which will be the last data release ahead of its rate decision on Oct. 28. Grocery prices increased at a slower pace last month, rising 1.7 percent year-over-year after increasing 2.8 percent in August. This marks the smallest yearly increase since May 2024 and the second straight month where grocery price growth rose at a slower pace than overall inflation. Shelter prices increased 1.8 percent on an annual basis, up from 1.5 percent in August. The increase was driven by higher fuel prices, as well as faster price growth for homeowners’ home and mortgage insurance and maintenance and repairs.
Beef prices remain elevated with no quick fix in sight. Since Trump was first sworn into office in January 2017, prices for steak and ground beef have soared 81 percent and 95 percent, respectively, according to government data, compared with 41 percent for food overall. Americans’ appetite for beef was strong enough to keep up with rising prices for years, but consumers seemed to have finally reached their limit this summer. Data from Circana, a market-research company, showed retail sales by volume stalling out right at the peak of grilling season in July, though they’ve since resumed growing at modest rates. What we’re seeing is the forces of supply and demand at work, and not the failure of any one administration. Simply put, people still want to eat beef, and there’s less of it to go around. The size of the US herd is at a historic low. And though the most recent report from the US Department of Agriculture shows a very small rebound compared with the previous year’s stock, experts agree that any sustained increase is going to be long and slow. Two factors that would normally spur ranchers to increase their herds were present in recent years: Feed prices were low, and beef prices were high. But another factor neither Trump nor the markets have any control over has held them back — rain. Or, more precisely, the lack thereof. Drought is not a problem that’s going away, says James Mitchell, an associate professor of agricultural economics at the University of Arkansas, and that will keep prices high. Ranchers need rain for the feed they provide their cattle, from the grass they pasture on in the summer to the hay they eat in the winter. As of early October, about 52 percent of the country’s cattle herd was in an area already in a moderate or more intense drought. And conditions are almost certain to get worse over the long term, as climate scientists have been warning for years now. We’ll get more droughts, we’ll get more severe droughts, and we’ll get longer droughts, says Jonathan Overpeck, a climate scientist at the University of Michigan. We’ll get short periods of relief, he says. But the droughts will return, and the periodic snowfall and rainfall won’t be enough to undo their harm. Herd rebuilding takes three to four years to play out. Ranchers have to wait for a heifer to reach breeding age, then for her to gestate a calf, which they raise and send to a feedlot, before it finally goes to slaughter, so the effects of a long dry stretch can take years to show up in the supermarket meat case. Right now shoppers are paying for ranchers’ decision to shrink their herds during the 2020-23 drought, says David Ortega, a food economist at Michigan State University. Weather forecasting technology has come a long way since the days of the Farmers’ Almanac. Today drought reports the government produces can tell a rancher the present state of conditions, and some tools can predict a season, or even a year out. But cattle operations need to be able to see even further into the future to make educated decisions on whether to expand their herd. Overpeck, working with a team of scientists convened by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, has approached the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration about developing a drought assessment model that would rely on data from more recent climate-change-related droughts instead of historic ones. Its uses could go far beyond cattle ranching. Although Overpeck says NOAA is taking the proposal seriously, it will require government funding, something that, like rain, has been in short supply of late. He couldn’t put a dollar figure on it but says the project needs only a very small investment. It’s an investment that could pay dividends not only to farmers and ranchers but to shoppers too. Keith Good, an agricultural policy analyst and former statistician at the USDA, says the recent modest increase in replacement heifers, the industry term for cattle that will be used to bear calves, in the department’s report from July was a sign that cattle owners were making a cautious bet. If drought conditions improve, their businesses will do well. If they don’t, ranchers could always send those heifers to the slaughterhouse. In his analysis of the USDA report, Brett Stuart of the market intelligence company Global AgriTrends noted that the increase in replacement heifers was only 2.7 percent, compared with the 23 percent rate in the last expansion, in 2011-16. But that bet has gotten riskier in just the past couple of months, with feed prices rising and with Trump touting the mystery meat plan that sent cattle futures tumbling in August. They’ve since recovered. That 300,000 metric tons in imports would amount to only 2.2 percent of annual US beef consumption, says Glynn Tonsor, a professor of agricultural economics at Kansas State University, some of which was already coming. The intervention may push prices down, he argues, but the announcement also had the unintended consequence of adding uncertainty into the market. I think the bigger impact on producers is a losing of faith, he says; ranchers can’t predict what Washington may do next. And if the future business environment is more uncertain from a policy front, you’re less willing to make an investment. And that’s what herd expansion is, an investment for the next 5 to 15 years. Meanwhile, growth in retail beef purchases has resumed. As long as unemployment doesn’t jump, says Chris DuBois, leader of Circana’s protein practice, sales will continue to grow modestly; even many of those watching their spending are still buying it sometimes, reluctant to give it up entirely. Jenn Lueke, a budget-minded food influencer and cookbook author, says ground beef isn’t off the menu — it just makes fewer appearances now that it’s gotten so expensive. If we’re going to include ground beef in a recipe, every now and then, she says, it’s considering what the other meals are for the week. The allegiance to beef is strong in restaurants too, with more than 90 percent featuring it on their menus, according to food and beverage industry market researcher Datassential. It’s a premium option that operators are leaning into rather than steering away from, says Claire Conaghan, an analyst at the company. And it’s not just fancy restaurants. The roast beef sandwich chain Arby’s added steak nuggets to its menu for a limited time in 2025 and found the campaign so successful it brought them back for another cameo in August. The US is coming off of the warmest summer on record with below-average precipitation; 41 states were in a drought the week ended Oct. 6. But even in places where rainfall is scarce, high demand is enough to persuade some ranchers to take the bet. In Missouri, where 55 percent of the state’s cattle herd is in areas afflicted by drought, Vance Keaton is already looking to expand his stock of the replacement heifers he’ll sell to other ranchers looking to grow. Keaton acknowledges that he’s worried about the cost of diesel and feed and concerned about how the Trump administration’s unpredictable announcements may negatively affect cattle prices. But, he says, we’re going to have to have cows.
Tensions between the United States and Ukraine intensified as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Donald Trump of trying to pressure Kyiv into surrendering to Russia, escalating a week-long row with the US president. In an interview with Bloomberg in Kyiv, Zelenskyy also offered a new proposal to accede to Trump’s request to stop targeting Russian refineries, which was aimed at combating high diesel prices, in exchange for deliveries of more Patriot air-defense missiles. Now, we have dangerous days ahead of the elections, Zelenskyy said on Sunday, referring to the Nov. 3 midterms in the US. My latest model was: We don’t target Russian diesel, you give us missiles for Patriot systems to protect our facilities. But they just want us to stop attacking diesel. And if we strike that, they will disconnect us from something. While offering an off-ramp from the escalating row, Kyiv is likely to be unsettled by a Wall Street Journal report that Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a meeting with Trump and China’s Xi Jinping next month to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. Putin and Trump did discuss holding possible trilateral talks with Xi, though there were no specific proposals for a meeting or any agenda, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday, Interfax reported. While Russia appreciates US mediation efforts, no final resolution to the conflict is possible without a representative from Kyiv who’s willing to take responsibility, the news service cited Peskov as saying. A meeting among the leaders of Ukraine, the US and Russia could help end the war sooner, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X Monday. A trilateral summit that excludes Kyiv would do only the opposite: encourage Putin to continue this war, he said. As relations between the US and Ukraine reached a new low, Zelenskyy laid out what he said were a series of unfriendly moves by Washington toward Kyiv. Those include the deliberate slowing of Starlink internet speeds, which are crucial for Ukrainian troops fighting Russia, and delaying already scarce deliveries of Patriot interceptors for ballistic missiles, which have become a nightmare for Ukrainian cities, he said Sunday in the interview. I believe steps have been taken to convince Ukraine to capitulate, Zelenskyy said. I am not saying that this is the goal our partners are pursuing. I don’t want to think that our American partners believe the war against Russia could be ended sooner at Ukraine’s expense. But that’s how it looks. Kyiv came under a Russian ballistic missile attack late Sunday that killed at least one person, according to local authorities. Preliminary information indicated that a missile hit a medical center, they said. Once again, the US didn’t share any early warning with Ukraine about the launch, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing security issues. Without that warning, it’s harder for Ukraine to repel the attack, as well as to alert civilians with enough time for them to proceed to shelters. Tensions between Ukraine and the US reached a nadir after Trump struck a deal with Putin under which Washington would refrain from further tightening sanctions on Russia in exchange for Moscow supplying limited volumes of diesel to the global market to curb rising prices. Trump sparked blowback from members of his own party when he said late Friday he would waive part of a new Russia sanctions law named after the late Senator Lindsey Graham. Trump said later Sunday that he went ahead with the diesel export deal and sanctions waiver because he doesn’t want to drive Putin away from peace talks, while asserting that Zelenskyy wanted to prolong the war. He doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did, Trump wrote of Zelenskyy. He could have made a better deal two years ago than he can now. His country is in shambles, a large portion of his land is lost, his oceans and seas are gone, and his male population is low, wounded, and/or dead. I WANT THIS WAR END! Asked directly about WSJ’s report of a trilateral meeting among Putin, Xi and Trump, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: I think there’s been talks of a meeting but nothing has been finalized. The US president is open to anything he can do to bring an end to the conflict and wants diplomatic efforts involving Russia and Ukraine to advance. No one is winning that war, Rubio told reporters during a visit to Uzbekistan. When asked at a regular press briefing in Beijing about the report, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said she had no information to share. I think that the president of the United States does have a good relationship with Putin, Zelenskyy said, speaking before the WSJ story was published. But one thing doesn’t work here. Currently, Trump can’t force Putin to end the war. Zelenskyy said that relations with Washington may improve after the US midterm elections. Politics is very aggressive during election time, he said. I think it is agony now, but after elections, life will continue and I believe it will be calmer. The US has demanded that Kyiv stop striking Russia’s oil refineries. The Trump administration has argued that those attacks have contributed to high energy prices, particularly for diesel, even though global supplies have been much more significantly affected by the US war with Iran. Ukraine has said it’s ready to halt strikes on refineries if Russia refrains from attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Both sides, however, have continued to target energy facilities, with Ukraine resuming strikes after pausing for several days to see if Russia would adhere to the energy ceasefire announced by Trump. Ukraine said Russian forces hit substations over the weekend, leaving tens of thousands of families without power, while Russia battled fires at the St. Petersburg oil terminal and other industrial facilities. Zelenskyy spoke after Ukraine complained that SpaceX, the US-based company owned by Elon Musk, slowed Starlink internet speeds in Ukraine. The satellite internet service is crucial for Ukraine’s troops and has been one of the country’s key battlefield advantages in its war against Russia, now in its fifth year. Asked who ordered the move, Zelenskyy pointed to the authorities, the White House, citing sources he didn’t identify. He said that Starlink internet connections cut out at speeds above 161 kilometers (100 miles) per hour in Ukraine, while beyond the country it works without any limitations. Russian drones are traveling at around 400 kilometers per hour. Zelenskyy also said the US is delaying deliveries of interceptors for Patriot air-defense systems used to shoot down Russia’s ballistic missiles, which inflict the heaviest damage on infrastructure in Ukrainian cities. We have paid for the weapons including anti-ballistic missiles under the so-called PURL program, Zelenskyy said. A part of the supplies has been authorized by the US side, while the rest haven’t been. And this is not a technical issue. The US is currently supplying Ukraine with only 12 Patriot interceptor missiles a month, roughly a quarter of the pace under Joe Biden’s administration, Zelenskyy said. Under Trump, the US is selling those missiles to Ukraine, while Biden was providing them for free as military assistance. In the meantime, Zelenskyy remains in close contact with Trump’s key envoys for Ukrainian peace talks, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, saying Sunday that they’re discussing another meeting, likely later this week. The trio had already met in Kyiv in early September. Back then, Kushner and Witkoff first went to Moscow for talks with Putin before making their first visit to Ukraine for negotiations with Zelenskyy. The standoff with the US comes at the worst possible moment for Ukraine, as the country braces for an exceptionally challenging winter. Russia’s use of jet-powered drones, coupled with a severe shortage of interceptors, has left Ukraine increasingly vulnerable to airstrike surges, undermining public morale. The country is already enduring hours-long blackouts, while its largest cities are bracing for even worse disruptions, including potential cutoffs of heating, water supplies and sewage. Asked how he would describe efforts to repair relations with the US, Zelenskyy said, I think that when the potential risks for Ukraine are of tsunami proportions, one should intervene while it’s still just a mild storm. I believe much more is at stake than the diesel deal.
Republican lawmakers, including some of the president’s strongest allies on Capitol Hill, blasted Donald Trump for waiving new tariffs and sanctions on Russia, prompting the president to defend himself against members of his own party. House Speaker Mike Johnson, in a rare sign of disagreement with Trump, said Sunday he asked for consultations with the White House, citing Russian President Vladimir Putin as someone who cannot be trusted. GOP critics said Trump’s decision trampled on the will of Congress, which overwhelmingly passed a sanctions law last month championed by the late Senator Lindsey Graham, and would aid Moscow’s war effort against Ukraine. Trump issued the waiver shortly after cutting a deal with Russia on diesel exports aimed at lowering high fuel prices ahead of the US midterm elections, in which the cost of living is voters’ dominant concern. I told the White House team that we need to talk about it and I think carefully consider the unintended consequences that that may ensue from that, Johnson said on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures. Senator Kevin Cramer, a Republican from North Dakota, recalled visiting Kyiv this month as part of a congressional delegation that met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Capitulating to a bully won’t work, Cramer said Sunday on CBS’s Face the Nation, referring to sanctions concessions to Putin and calling for stronger measures to support Ukraine. Senator Dave McCormick, a Pennsylvania Republican, said providing relief to Russia is a bad idea but gave Trump credit for trying to lower fuel prices. That’s the tension, he said on Fox News Sunday. Trump reaffirmed his stance on waiving the sanctions on Saturday, telling reporters it’s a very good decision. And it’s going to be a decision that’s good for the country and I think good for the world. The decision by Trump threatens to open up a new rift between the White House and its congressional allies with Republicans in grave danger of losing their majorities in the House and Senate in the Nov. 3 elections. That didn’t prevent more Republicans from questioning Trump’s stance on Sunday television shows. Representative Mike Turner called for a congressional investigation into Ukraine’s complaints that its use of SpaceX’s satellite technology was restricted. Lives are at risk and lives are lost over these things, the Ohio Republican told Face the Nation. Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican closely allied to Trump, said Saturday that the administration should have found other ways to lower fuel costs, such as importing more from Canada or waiving renewable-fuel requirements. I wish the president hadn’t done it, I think it was a mistake, Cruz said on Fox News, referring to Trump’s executive order late Friday waiving the Graham law. The current path, unfortunately, just benefits Putin. Asked about Cruz’s criticism, Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the decision and said Trump needs the 60-day waiver to sort of study all this and figure out what the right combination is. Rubio also claimed the decision was about more than US energy prices, acknowledging the conflicts in Iran that’s affected the Strait of Hormuz, between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis and between Russian and Ukraine were putting constraints on global energy supply. These conflicts around the world are starting to crash into each other, and they’re having an impact not just on global oil and diesel prices, but on economics, Rubio told reporters. The diesel that Putin is going to sell, they would make it available to the global market one way or the other. The only difference is how much of it the United States was going to get. Separately, Rubio also said it was important to take into account the US’s bilateral relationships with other countries when it comes to the waiver, including what sort of energy supplies they have access to. He pointed out that the US is currently close to striking a trade deal with India, which imports large amounts of Russian oil. You also can’t unravel the economy of other countries because of one central issue, Rubio said. Every country has a complex set of factors that they have to take into account. At least 10 Republican senators, along with several of their House counterparts, have spoken out against Trump’s diesel deal with Russia or the sanctions waiver. What part of enforcing a law passed 86-11 by the Senate does the President and his advisors not understand? Senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican retiring at the end of his term, wrote Saturday in a social media post. He said Trump could lower energy prices by addressing Iran rather than doing a solid for Vladimir Putin. A bipartisan group of 12 senators sent Trump a letter earlier last week urging him to rescind his diesel deal with Russia and enforce the Graham law. The Republican signatories included Tillis, Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, Susan Collins, Alan Armstrong and Lisa Murkowski. Allowing Russian-origin diesel into global markets will offer limited to no relief to Americans, the senators wrote in the letter, arguing the revenue would help finance Russia’s war in Ukraine and deepen Moscow’s cooperation with China, Iran and North Korea. Darline Graham, who was appointed to fill her late brother’s seat and is running for a full term, said she plans to speak to Trump when he visits South Carolina this week. The president and I share the same goal, which is to end the war and get gas and diesel prices down. The sanctions bill is one of the tolls he can use to do that. It’s up to him whether or not he choses to do so, she told reporters on Saturday. Personally, I would keep the pressure on Russia to end the war and get the gas prices down because I don’t trust Putin and I don’t trust Russia. While Ukraine has broad support on Capitol Hill, Congress is out of session through the midterm elections, so there’s little prospect of immediate action to block Trump’s diesel deal. His plan to return Russian diesel to US and global markets is expected to have little immediate effect on prices. A sustained resumption of Russian exports by year-end, however, could help shrink global supply deficits, provided Moscow can meet its commitments despite Ukrainian drone strikes on refineries. Jeanne Shaheen, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, joined six other senators last week on a letter opposing the decision, saying Congress explicitly banned Russian energy imports in 2022 to prevent American dollars from financing Putin’s brutal war against Ukraine. House lawmakers are also moving against the deal. A group of Democrats and one Republican introduced legislation Friday to block Russian diesel imports, though passage would be difficult in the Republican-controlled Congress and could require overcoming a Trump veto. Representative Don Bacon, a retiring Nebraska Republican, cosponsored the bill. Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican facing reelection in a contested seat, has separately said he would propose legislation barring purchases of Russian oil. Many of us won’t fund these things knowing he is propping up a dictator’s invasion and throwing an ally under the bus, Bacon wrote in a social media post Saturday. Democrats have almost unanimously opposed Trump’s overtures to Putin and Zelenskyy has criticized the waiver, saying Saturday it might open the door to broader sanctions relief for Moscow.
Russia’s Vladimir Putin proposed a meeting with President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping next month to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. Trump’s recent overtures to Putin, including a deal on diesel exports and a decision to waive a new sanctions law, have been widely criticized by Ukraine and its allies in Europe and Washington. Putin raised the idea of a three-way summit during an Oct. 9 phone call with Trump, a former Russian intelligence officer briefed on the matter told the newspaper. That same call resulted in the agreement for the US to buy Russian diesel and help facilitate its sale internationally. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed the discussions about a possible meeting to the Journal, though he said there was not yet a firm agreement on either the summit or its agenda. A senior US official said Trump had not agreed to attend, but could be open to the proposal given his longstanding pledge to bring the war to an end, the Journal reported. On Sunday, Trump said he made deals with Russia because he doesn’t want to drive Putin away from peace talks with Ukraine. In an interview Sunday with Bloomberg News, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Trump of trying to pressure Kyiv into surrendering to Russia, as relations between the two leaders continued to deteriorate. One possible venue offered by Putin for the meeting would be on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen on Nov. 18 and 19, the newspaper added. A summit focusing on Ukraine that excluded Zelenskyy would mark an unusual diplomatic step and likely be met with protests from Kyiv and its allies.
French officials, acknowledging law-enforcement failures, rolled out tougher security measures and pledged aid for businesses after cost-of-living protests this weekend degenerated into violence, vandalism and looting. Demonstrations were banned in Marseille on Monday, and Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu called on regional authorities to impose curfews where needed. Former Premier Gabriel Attal advocated curbs on social media. These are specific acts of delinquency, of looting, and it is out of the question that it continues, Lecornu told reporters. He blamed an ultra-left movement that seeks to create profound disorder in the country, all the way through to the presidential election. The protests drew more than half a million people on Saturday across the country, but what started out as peaceful demonstration to complain about poor conditions in classrooms and hospitals, and cost-of-living concerns soon deteriorated. Some 2,397 people were arrested on Saturday, according to Interior Ministry figures released late Sunday. Luxury stores including Burberry, Celine and Kenzo were looted, videos circulating on social media appeared to show, with secondhand online marketplaces like Vinted and Leboncoin seeing an influx of listings suspected to contain plundered items. French digital minister Anne Le Hénanff and other government officials will meet with platforms including Meta, Amazon and eBay on Monday. She said she expects the platforms to remove the listings promptly and work closely with government authorities to ensure that those resellers are prosecuted. French bonds and stocks fell, leading European markets lower. Social media accounts on X linked to the Yellow Vests protests called to continue actions all week, and for another day of unrest on Saturday. Protests and other actions are likely to extend well beyond then. Several unions have already called for a strike on Nov 5. France wasn’t alone in weekend protests getting out of hand. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni chaired an emergency meeting of her advisers Monday after demonstrations in Milan ended in rioting and looting. Protests also took place in Belgium, Portugal and Albania. Intelligence services failed to predict the scale and violence of the rioters, French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said. They got 550,000 protesters against fewer than the 200,000 they’d anticipated, he said on France Inter radio. The measures we put in place were out of balance not only with regard to the number of participants, but also with regard to the rioters, looters, and far-left activists who caused the marches to spiral out of control, he said. Nunez offered to resign, he said, which was refused by President Emmanuel Macron, who asked for clarity on intelligence failings. The country needs order, peace, and not an escalation, Macron said in a Sunday night address. Macron said many participants in protest marches expressed concerns over the cost of living, particularly prices at the pump, and added that he aimed to secure our supplies of fuel on a visit to Gulf countries starting Monday. Fallout from the weekend has sparked political reactions exacerbating an already divided landscape amid tense budget debates and ahead of the election to take place in six months. Our country is caught in a vice, held hostage even, between violence and powerlessness, far-right leader Marine Le Pen said in a speech posted on X on Sunday. Le Pen, who leads in polls, directly blamed far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon and his France Unbowed party for stirring up the violence. French assets fell on Monday as investors pondered the impact of the violence on the nation’s economic and political outlook. Government bonds underperformed most European peers, causing the spread between its 10-year yield and the German equivalent to widen 8 basis points to 145 basis points. The scenes of chaos in Paris have started to have an impact on tourism, according to an hotel industry representative. High-end hotels in the French capital have started to see cancellations, Christophe Laure, the head of UMIH Prestige, which represents four- and five-star hotels, told Bloomberg News. While it’s too early to provide any data on the cancellations, clients on Saturday were scared, they were in shock, Laure added. Lecornu said some unemployment aid would be channeled to shop owners whose businesses were damaged. The overall cost of the riots could quickly add up. Damage from the unrest will cost hundreds of millions of euros to repair, according to Alexandre Bompard, the chief executive officer of grocer Carrefour SA who heads the French trade and distribution federation. France experienced similar events in June 2023, which were estimated at €730 million ($819 million). The student movement that gained steam throughout September and partly fueled Saturday’s protests continues to have impact this week, despite the start of school holidays. In Paris, the Louvre museum was closed on Monday morning, according to a security guard, as a few dozen students from the Ecole du Louvre art school were blocking the glass pyramid that serves as the museum entrance, holding signs in support of the high school protests.
The European Union looks to be relaxing its opposition to oil and gas production in polar areas, while still calling for all fossil fuels to be kept in the ground in its forthcoming Arctic strategy. A draft of the strategy, seen by Bloomberg, contains no references to a moratorium on new oil and gas drilling in the Arctic, marking a shift in wording from the EU’s 2021 stance. The wording has been a topic of intense discussions between the trade bloc and Norway, which has lobbied hard for the EU to abandon its climate-based opposition to oil and gas exploration in the high north. The Nordic nation awarded five oil and gas exploration licenses in the Barents Sea, which is part of the Arctic, in last year’s licensing round and opened up 38 blocks in 2026 for applications. Norway supplied almost a third of EU’s gas imports last year, including a small part from those fields. The petroleum industry’s fear was that the EU would pledge not to buy oil and gas from Norway’s new Arctic fields. Instead, the draft says the union will prioritize renewable energy sources and hydrocarbons produced outside the Arctic. The European Commission also says it will work toward an international commitment to prevent further development of Arctic oil and gas resources, or purchases from them, when such activity poses a threat to the Arctic ecosystem. In 2021, the EU had said that building on the partial moratoriums on hydrocarbons exploration in the Arctic in parts of the US, Canada and Greenland, the EU is committed to ensuring that oil, coal and gas stay in the ground, including in Arctic regions and that it would work toward a multilateral legal obligation not to allow any further hydrocarbon reserve development in the Arctic or contiguous regions, nor to purchase such hydrocarbons if they were to be produced. The latest draft also reiterates the EU’s broader commitment to work toward keeping coal, oil and gas in the ground, including in the Arctic, in line with its climate targets. The bloc has set a legally binding goal of cutting net greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent by 2040 from the 1990 level. A spokesperson for Equinor ASA, which already produces oil and gas and is exploring more fields in the Barents Sea — referred questions to the Energy Department, and a spokesperson for the ministry declined to comment ahead of the strategy’s release. Environmental groups said the changes don’t amount to a significant retreat by Brussels. Paal Frisvold, who heads the Alliance to Preserve the Moratorium on Oil Drilling in the Arctic, told Bloomberg that he believes that the omission of the word moratorium makes the key message on climate stronger, adding EU is determined to keep fossil fuels in the ground. The draft text also maintains the EU’s opposition to deep-sea mining until scientific knowledge gaps have been satisfactorily filled. Norway in 2024 approved seabed mining, although no such works have yet started.
Saudi Arabia has ruled out holding its flagship investment conference in person this year as continuing Houthi attacks disrupt travel into the kingdom, dealing a blow to Riyadh’s efforts to attract foreign capital and position itself as a global business hub. Organizers are weighing whether to hold the tenth edition of the Future Investment Initiative entirely virtually or postpone it, according to people familiar with the discussions, who declined to be identified as the information is confidential. A final decision is expected within days, one of the people said. Representatives for the FII declined to comment. The conference is due to start on Oct. 26 and is slated to feature the likes of Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser, Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s David Solomon and BlackRock Inc.’s Larry Fink. The move follows multiple attacks on the kingdom in recent days. Strikes on Riyadh airport have killed more than a dozen people, disrupted flights and forced the postponement or cancellation of several events. FII organizers have been considering a range of contingency measures to keep the conference on track, and said as recently as last week that they were preparing to welcome thousands of delegates to Riyadh. That underscored the event’s importance to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts to make Saudi Arabia’s case to the global financial establishment — particularly crucial this year, with the war straining Riyadh’s economy. The conference generated agreements worth more than $50 billion in 2025, and Public Investment Fund Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan has said it has facilitated more than $250 billion in cumulative deals since inception. The ultimate value of those deals is difficult to ascertain, as many agreements involve non-binding memoranda of understanding, but key announcements have been unveiled at past editions.
The Trump administration is invoking an emergency wartime law to fund efforts to advance a long-stalled Williams Co. pipeline that’s been tied up amid regulatory battles in New York. The Energy Department announced Monday its awarding $42 million for permitting and pre-construction work on the Constitution Pipeline, which would carry natural gas from Pennsylvania to New York. Republicans are pushing hard to lower energy costs ahead of next month’s midterm election that will determine control of Congress. Retail diesel is at a record above $6 a gallon, while the average US gasoline price is above $4. The answer to high prices is more supply to push prices down, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said earlier Monday on Fox Business, which earlier reported some of the announcements. Republicans are facing widespread voter concern over high food and fuel costs, including in New York, where Mike Lawler is running for re-election in a toss-up district. Trump officials have sought to allay some of the voter anxiety and cast blame on Northeast Democrats for blocking energy infrastructure that could deliver more fuel to the region and lower costs. The Constitution Pipeline, first proposed in 2012, faced years of opposition from environmental groups and was shelved in 2020 after Williams failed to secure key New York permits over water-quality concerns. The project has regained momentum under the Trump administration, which has vowed to see it built. The Defense Production Act grants presidents sweeping authority to shape domestic industries in the name of bolstering national security. Trump laid the foundation for the effort when he issued presidential determinations under the law in April targeting support for domestic coal power, liquefied natural gas, domestic petroleum and power-grid infrastructure, arguing shortfalls in each area threatened national defense. Last week, Vice President JD Vance announced the Trump administration would invoke the law to support the expansion of a refinery in Texas.
