Finance

France's debt crisis takes center stage ahead of the ECB meeting
The ECB meets next Thursday and is widely expected to keep rates unchanged, while the selloff in French bonds is raising financing costs across the eurozone. The yield on the 10-year French bond topped 5%, a level not seen since 2002, and the spread over the German bond exceeded 170 basis points. Christine Lagarde says the solution to France's debt must come from Paris. Moody's issues its verdict on the country's Aa3 rating with a negative outlook.
FinanceInternationalEuronewsOct 23AI
European luxury stocks slump: Kering falls 12% after another sales decline
European stock markets ended the week lower, with the CAC 40 down about 1.1% and the DAX around 0.85%. The luxury sector led the selloff: Kering, owner of Gucci, plunged 12% after reporting another drop in sales and announcing it would accelerate store closures to 125 locations by year-end. Gucci posted a 6% decline in sales. LVMH and Hermès fell as much as 2%, amid concerns over AI valuations, oil prices and the political and fiscal crisis in France.
FinanceInternationalXTB.comOct 23AI
Oil rises, silver falls and Brazil braces for presidential runoff
US futures are trading more steadily after heavy selling in the tech sector, with semiconductors attempting to recover part of their recent losses, in a context shaped by rising oil prices and uncertainty over the sustainability of high AI spending. Brent keeps its upward trend amid geopolitical escalation in the Middle East, while silver deepens its losses and trades near 54. The Brazilian stock market faces Sunday's presidential runoff between Flávio Bolsonaro and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
FinanceInternationalXTB.comOct 23AI
Adriana Cisneros: in a year there will be "mature conditions" to start investing her US$1 billion fund
Adriana Cisneros, CEO of the Cisneros group, estimates that in a year "conditions will be mature" to begin investing the US$1 billion "Intrépida" fund in Venezuelan projects at the intersection of infrastructure and technology. She said about two-thirds of the capital has already been raised, more than US$600 million, and that she will not deploy resources until the necessary framework of certainty is in place. She spoke at the Startup Venezuela Summit 2026.
FinanceInternationalBanca y NegociosOct 23AI
Banco Ciudad cuts rate to 7.5% on its mortgage loans for home upgrades
Banco Ciudad cut the fixed rate (TNA) on its UVA mortgage loans for home upgrades from 9.5% to 7.5%, aimed at existing owners seeking a larger home. The line offers terms of up to 25 years and a maximum amount of AR$200 million, and now allows financing simultaneous buy-sell transactions. According to the bank, the cut is backed by new funding obtained through its participation in FGS Anses tenders.
FinanceInternationalInfobaeOct 23AI
Brent tops $114 and WTI rises 1.66% amid Middle East tensions
Brent and WTI prices rose more than 1% in the session, with intraday gains of 1.1% and 1.66% respectively, amid instability in the Strait of Hormuz and Houthi attacks on energy infrastructure in Saudi Arabia. Brent broke through $114 a barrel. Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to classify crude extraction and refining as essential and mobilize $1 billion in energy projects.
FinanceInternationalXTB.comOct 23AI
Welspun suspends meeting with Tubos Reunidos works council to assess €150 million debt issue with SEPI
Indian group Welspun has postponed the meeting scheduled for Monday with the Tubos Reunidos works council in Trapagaran (Bizkaia) to discuss the company's roughly €150 million debt with SEPI. According to union sources, the company maintains its interest in remaining in the sale process and will call the unions again. Welspun is one of five bids selected for the next phase. SEPI wants that liability to be assumed by the productive units being acquired.
FinanceInternationalORAINOct 23AI
Ownership changes at Rosario companies, falling consumption and a government push to formalize savings
Navicam, owned by the Picone family group, acquired all of Beta, an Iveco truck dealership, and Swiss firm SGS bought Laboratorio Litoral. Indec reported a 3.7% year-on-year drop in supermarket sales in August, the eighth consecutive month of decline. The executive branch regulated Inocencia Fiscal II through Decree 1253/2026, and Daniel González left the Secretariat of Energy and Mining Coordination, which will not be replaced. The 2026 Argentine Fintech Map counted 1,108 companies and 91% expect consolidation.
FinanceInternationalRosario3Oct 23AI
Kering slumps up to 11% on stock market after Gucci sales miss expectations
Kering fell as much as 11% on the stock market after sales at Gucci, which accounts for about half of the group's profit, dropped 6% at constant exchange rates to 1.29 billion euros in the third quarter, below expectations. Group revenue fell 1%. The result frustrates hopes of a rapid recovery under CEO Luca de Meo's five-year plan. Rival Hermès also disappointed: its sales in Asia-Pacific excluding Japan were flat and its shares fell 4.9% in Paris.
FinanceInternationalCinco DíasOct 23AI
Finans Norge warns of a scam that convinces clients to bury gold in the forest
Norwegian financial organization Finans Norge reported cases of clients tricked into buying large amounts of gold and hiding it in the forest, with the promise that someone would guard it while its value rose; the buried batch ended up being stolen. The first episode was reported in spring and cases have already appeared in Oslo, Bergen, Drammen and Lillestrøm, with no total figure for victims or losses. In 2025, Norwegian banks and clients lost 962 million kroner to fraud.
FinanceInternationalEl ConfidencialOct 23AI
BBVA tops one million customers in Italy with its digital bank
BBVA has surpassed one million customers in Italy after five years operating in the country with a digital banking model, the lender said. The bank thus meets the target it set for this year, after stating in December 2025 that it would exceed that figure in 2026 once it passed 800,000 customers. Its chairman, Carlos Torres, said the bank is starting a new stage focused on becoming its customers' main bank. In Germany, its other major digital bank outside Spain, it passed 100,000 customers in April.
FinanceInternationalValencia PlazaOct 23AI
Argentina's Central Bank to require banks and digital wallets to disclose money market fund rates
Argentina's Central Bank ruled, through Communication A 8497, that from November 1 banks and payment service providers offering payment accounts must disclose on all their digital channels the yield on money market fund deposits using the 7-day nominal annual rate. The figure must appear mandatorily and visibly on every home banking platform and financial app, next to the button to invest. Money market fund rates currently range from a floor of 14% to 24% nominal annual.
FinanceInternationalClarin.comOct 23AI
Brokers recommend Argentine assets to shield against 2027 election uncertainty
Electoral uncertainty in Argentina is weighing on local financial assets, with country risk at 700 points and a spread between bonds maturing before and after the elections. Local brokers shared their recommendations with Bloomberg Línea: Vector Investments suggests dollar-denominated corporate bonds maturing around 2030 plus 10% liquidity in AO27; Mills Capital notes that instruments maturing before the vote offer a natural refuge; and PPI sees Neuquén bonds and Vaca Muerta-linked equities as options amid the volatility.
FinanceInternationalBloomberg LíneaOct 23AI
Watches of Switzerland shares rise nearly 60% in 2026 after record revenue of £1.828 billion
Watches of Switzerland (WOSG) shares are up almost 60% so far in 2026 despite pressure on the luxury sector. The fine watchmaking firm closed a fiscal year with record revenue of £1.828 billion, up 13% at constant currency and 11% on a reported basis, and free cash flow of £162 million. For the first time, the United States overtook the United Kingdom as its main source of revenue and profitability, with sales of £927 million (+24% at constant currency).
FinanceInternationalXTB.comOct 23AI
Valmet confirms technology order worth more than 100 million euros for Century Sunshine pulp plant in China
Valmet detailed a technology contract worth more than 100 million euros for Century Sunshine's new pulp plant in Rizhao, China. The delivery includes two parallel cooking and fiber lines, an evaporation plant, a recovery boiler, ash treatment, a white liquor plant, recausticizing and lime kilns with biomass dryers and gasifiers. The design foresees 1.2 million tonnes per year of hardwood or softwood pulp plus 400,000 additional tonnes of softwood pulp. The order was already booked in the second quarter of 2026 and startup is targeted for June 2028.
FinanceInternationalFordaqOct 23AI
Gold falls near yearly lows on oil rally and Marathon Fusion announcement
Gold prices are trading near yearly lows at $4,003.10 per ounce and are down about 29% from their highs, while gold miners have lost more than 30% since March. Higher crude prices, inflation and the yield on the 10-year US Treasury near 5% are weighing on the metal. Meanwhile, California-based Marathon Fusion claims it has converted mercury-198 into stable gold using reactor neutrons.
FinanceInternationalXTB.comOct 23AI
Spain's Ibex 35 opens flat in a session marked by global uncertainty
Spain's Ibex 35 trades flat in the early part of the session, amid global market uncertainty tied to the crisis in France, artificial intelligence and rising oil prices, three variables the index is exposed to. Solaria rebounds after falling more than 5% the previous day, while banks partly recover their losses. Indra and Telefónica fall at the bottom of the index, and IAG is hit by higher crude prices.
FinanceInternationalXTB.comOct 23AI
USD/JPY holds below 160 as BoJ and Fed take center stage for the yen
USD/JPY remains below 160, a level the market watches for the risk of intervention by Japan. Japanese core inflation rose to 2.1% year-on-year in September and the measure excluding food and energy accelerated from 1.9% to 2.4%, above forecasts, reinforcing the case for continued monetary policy normalization. After September's rate hike to 1.25%, the market points to December for the next move. On the other side, persistent US inflation could limit the Fed's room for maneuver.
FinanceInternationalXTB.comOct 23AI
Brent crude hits $114 a barrel as European gas tops €93 per megawatt-hour
The expanding conflict in the Middle East continues to strain energy markets. Brent has touched $114 a barrel after gaining about 1% in the last day and more than 5% since the start of the week, while West Texas has topped $100 with a 1.5% rise. Natural gas on the Dutch TTF has jumped more than 3% to above €93 per megawatt-hour. European stock markets opened cautiously, with the Ibex 35 flat.
FinanceInternationalRTVE.esOct 23AI
Prysmian completes acquisition of Atkore at $95 per share
Prysmian completed its acquisition of US-based Atkore, a specialist in electrical infrastructure solutions, under the merger agreement signed on August 2, 2026. It paid $95 per share in cash, implying an enterprise value of about $3.8 billion ($3.3 billion euros). The deal aims to strengthen its position in the United States and broaden its electrification offering, with more than 60 manufacturing and distribution sites in the country.
FinanceInternationalInterempresas MediaOct 23AI