Finance

USD/JPY hovers near 158 ahead of Fed and Bank of Japan meetings, with Tokyo intervention risk in focus
The USD/JPY pair trades around 158 on October 27, ahead of the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan meetings. Markets do not expect rate hikes in October, but services inflation in Japan, with services producer prices up 3.7% year on year, strengthens the case for further tightening. The BoJ would keep rates at 1.25% and a hike to 1.50% in December remains a possibility. Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama reiterated that the government is watching the market and will act if necessary.
FinanceInternationalXTB.comOct 27AI
BlackRock: insurers view private debt with interest and no concern
BlackRock's Global Insurance Survey, covering 463 insurers across 31 markets representing more than $24 trillion in assets, concludes that demand for private debt "remains especially high." 41% of respondents plan to increase their exposure to the asset class and 92% allocate at least 5% of their investments to private markets. Inflation is the top macroeconomic concern for 62%, while 82% do not plan to change the risk profile of their investments.
FinanceInternationalExpansiónOct 27AI
Spain's Ibex 35 opens lower, down nearly 0.2%, with Ferrovial and Solaria gaining
Spain's Ibex 35 opened the session down around 0.2% in a key stretch of the earnings season, with banks reporting this week. Ferrovial led gains with a rise of nearly 10% after disclosing the payment structure of the I-24 Express Lanes project in Nashville, whose present value it estimates at $21 billion. Solaria also posted strong gains, while Grifols, Repsol and banks traded lower.
FinanceInternationalXTB.comOct 27AI
Bank of England orders review of Revolut's product approval processes
The Bank of England's Prudential Regulation Authority issued a section 166 order this year to review Revolut's product approval processes and assess the soundness of its internal systems, according to people familiar with the matter. The order was issued around March, when the fintech obtained its full UK banking licence. Revolut, with more than 80 million customers and a valuation of $115 billion, announced unsecured personal loans and a partnership with asset manager Carne on Monday.
FinanceInternationalExpansiónOct 27AI
Bankinter's app and website go down from Monday night
Bankinter customers have been unable to access the bank's app and website since Monday night. The lender acknowledged the incident on X at 22:45 and said on Tuesday that both channels were still not working normally, without explaining the cause or giving a time for restoration. According to the bank, card payments are not affected, the incident has not touched personal or financial data, and branches and telephone banking are operating normally.
FinanceInternationalFinectOct 27AI
The average mortgage in Spain now requires earning 2,415 euros net per month, 220 more than a year ago
The average amount of housing mortgages in Spain reached 181,285 euros in August, up 7.7% year on year, according to INE. With an average term of 26 years and an average rate of 3.08%, the monthly payment stands at 845 euros. Applying the banking criterion that the payment not exceed 35% of net income, about 2,415 euros net per month are needed, more than 220 more than a year ago. Euribor closed September at 3.247%.
FinanceInternationalFinectOct 27AI
Gas prices in Europe surge 234% in 2026 as reserves hit historic lows
The Dutch TTF contract, Europe's gas benchmark, is trading around 96 euros per megawatt hour after nearing 97.64 euros, its highest level since December 2022, a rise of about 234% since January. EU storage stood at 74.6% on October 24, versus 82.9% a year earlier, the lowest level for this time of year since 2011, according to IEEFA. The absence of Qatari LNG and the upcoming ban on Russian LNG are pressuring winter supply.
FinanceInternationalEuronews.comOct 27AI
Economic calendar: Conference Board and durable goods orders take focus in the US
Tuesday's session in global markets opened with Asian data: South Korea's quarterly GDP grew 1.0% in the third quarter versus the 0.7% forecast, and China's year-to-date industrial profits rose 15.5%. Attention shifts to the United States, with durable goods orders and the Conference Board consumer confidence index, plus earnings from Boeing, Coca-Cola, UPS, HSBC, Visa and Logitech.
FinanceInternationalXTB.comOct 27AI
The Ibex hesitates again near 19,000 points
The Ibex 35 is again showing doubts near 19,000 points in a week marked by a heavy concentration of references. From Wednesday to Friday, the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan will update their monetary policy, with expectations of a pause in rate hikes and messages confirming the increases expected for December. Brent repeats around $115 a barrel, close to its May highs, while markets digest a wave of corporate earnings, with attention on Microsoft and Alphabet.
FinanceInternationalExpansiónOct 27AI
Saudi Arabia to expand its East-West pipeline to carry 10 million barrels a day and rely less on Hormuz
Saudi Aramco is working to expand its East-West pipeline, known as Petroline, to carry up to 10 million barrels of oil a day from the current 7 million, a project that could take two to three years to complete. The goal is to reduce dependence on the Strait of Hormuz amid tensions in the Middle East. Aramco CEO Amin Nasser confirmed the plans, which were also announced by Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman at the WPC Energy Congress in Riyadh.
FinanceInternationalDiario ASOct 27AI
Negative tone in European stocks despite renewed appetite for AI
European stock markets are trading slightly lower, with the Ibex 35 down 0.1% but holding above 19,000 points, while Brent crude extends its decline to $114 a barrel. Anthropic's announcement of its stock market listing strengthens confidence in the artificial intelligence sector after the semiconductor correction. Investors await decisions from the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan, as well as results from Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon.
FinanceInternationalCinco DíasOct 27AI
Argentine industry falls 3.4% year-on-year in September and logs three years without improvement
Argentine industry remains in a recessionary crisis, according to the report by the Research Center of the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA): in September activity fell 3.4% year-on-year and 0.2% versus August. In the year to date the decline is 3.4%, a 2.8% drop compared with the first nine months of 2025 and 11% versus the same period of 2022 and 2023. Eleven of the 16 sectors in the index fell compared with August 2025.
FinanceInternationalPrensa LatinaOct 26AI
56% of Spaniards had trouble withdrawing cash from ATMs in the past year
56% of those who used ATMs to withdraw or deposit cash in the past year encountered some difficulty, 10 points more than the previous 46%, according to the Bank of Spain's study on cash usage habits. The most cited problem is an out-of-service ATM (43%), followed by a lack of banknotes (33%), and the share of users whose usual ATM closed multiplied by five. 92% reject a cashless world and 57% use cash as their usual payment method.
FinanceInternationalCinco DíasOct 26AI
The back-and-forth on crypto regulation exposes Europe's supervisory tangle
Ecofin approved a watered-down version of the reform that would have placed all crypto firms under ESMA supervision: only "significant providers" would fall under the European body. MiCA sets that threshold at 15 million active users a year, a criterion that, according to industry sources, no exchange would meet. The Council broadened the criteria to three of five conditions. The industry warns of overlaps between supervisors and Parliament has yet to set its position.
FinanceInternationalCinco DíasOct 26AI
European retail investors will be able to buy Anthropic shares in the IPO
Anthropic, creator of Claude, filed its initial public offering prospectus with the US market regulator, with the listing set for November 16. Retail investors will be able to buy in Australia, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and certain European Economic Area states. To sell in the EU it must register the prospectus in a member country and use the European passport. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley coordinate the deal, with 22 banks participating.
FinanceInternationalCinco DíasOct 26AI
Hilton opens a four-star DoubleTree hotel in Madrid's Salamanca district
Hilton opened a DoubleTree-branded hotel on Príncipe de Vergara street in Madrid's Salamanca district on Monday, following a 15-month phased renovation. The four-star property has 155 rooms, a bar, a restaurant, a gym and 12 meeting and event rooms. With the opening, the chain now has six four-star hotels in the city, where it competes with Marriott, which has seven five-star hotels in the city center with rates of between 500 and 1,000 euros.
FinanceInternationalCinco DíasOct 26AI
A cautious investor's savings also depend on AI: funds, tech debt and valuations
An article describes how a cautious saver, with no stocks or cryptocurrencies, is exposed to artificial intelligence through his pension plan and index fund. In Spanish equity funds, 31% is invested in technology stocks. Meta plans to spend between $135 billion and $145 billion on data centers and will issue non-voting shares; Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle and SpaceX have issued more than $180 billion in debt this year. OpenAI is negotiating a $1.25 trillion valuation, down from the $1.4 trillion proposed weeks earlier.
FinanceInternationalLa Voz de GaliciaOct 26AI
Why France has become the textbook example of debt problems
France has become the main victim of rising bond yields worldwide, according to an analysis. Its net debt will exceed 111% of GDP this year, according to IMF forecasts, with a deficit close to 5% of GDP and nominal growth projected at 3%. Last week, the 10-year yield briefly topped 5% for the first time since 2002, and the spread against Germany stands at around 1.5 points, the highest since the 2012 euro crisis.
FinanceInternationalEl ConfidencialOct 26AI
IMF credit would cost 3.7% a year versus 6.6% in the market, according to analysis cited by Diario del Sur
An analysis published by Diario del Sur suggests that financing through the IMF would cost close to 3.7% a year, compared with 6.6% for Colombian sovereign bonds in dollars. The estimate includes an SDR base rate of about 3.1% plus a 60 basis point margin. On a hypothetical $1 billion one-year loan, the simple interest difference would be around $29 million. The text warns that the rates are estimates and that an agreement could include fiscal adjustment commitments.
FinanceColombiaDiario del SurOct 26AI
Soybeans fall to two-month low on expectations of higher Brazilian exports to China
Agricultural commodity futures fell after Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's election victory in Brazil, which sent the real down 11% and improved the country's export competitiveness. Sugar dropped more than 5%, its biggest intraday decline since May; arabica coffee fell as much as 4.1% and soybeans up to 2.3%. Brazil is the world's largest exporter of soybeans, sugar, coffee and cotton, and accounted for nearly 80% of China's soybean imports in the first nine months of the year.
FinanceInternationalBloomberg LíneaOct 26AI