India’s central bank raised its main interest rate for the first time since 2023 on Wednesday, while Brent crude climbed back above $100 a barrel in Asian trading on Houthi claims of strikes on Saudi Arabia and a storm threat in the Gulf of Mexico. The World Bank said the Iran war will shrink the Middle East economy by 2.1% this year, and Paramount completed its $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery.
Spain
Treasury bills pay savers more than 3% for the first time since 2024. Spain’s Treasury sold about €6.47 billion of short-term bills on Tuesday, and the yield on 12-month bills rose to 3.026% from 2.846% at the September auction, the highest since July 2024; six-month bills paid 2.798%, up from 2.641%. Demand was solid, at about €5.69 billion for the 12-month paper. Households that buy Letras now earn more on their savings, but the rise also signals higher borrowing costs for the state and for loans linked to market rates. (Infobae, Finect)
Electricity eases from its 2026 high but costs more than double a year ago. The wholesale power price averaged €201.99 per megawatt-hour on Tuesday, the highest of the year and far above the €79.05 of the same day in 2025, before easing to about €182.33 on Wednesday. The regulated household tariff (PVPC) averages about €209.88/MWh today, with the cheapest hours in mid-afternoon and the most expensive in the evening. Gas prices pushed up by the Middle East war and weak wind output are behind the jump, so households on the regulated tariff are paying sharply more than last year. (VilaWeb, Consumidor Global, Infobae)
Catalonia
Barcelona home buying is within reach of only about 15% of households. A report published on Tuesday by the Cambra de la Propietat Urbana de Barcelona, which represents property owners, finds that rent plus bills takes 35.3% of an average household’s income, rising to 47.4% in Ciutat Vella. Buying with an 80% mortgage would absorb about 47.5% of the median household income of €38,979, and rents have risen roughly 26% since early 2021. The figures arrive as Barcelona hosts the National Housing Congress and housing costs dominate the run-up to the November 29 general election. (VIA Empresa, La Ciutat)
Record August for hotels, but tourists stay for shorter breaks. Catalan hotels welcomed a record 2.89 million guests in August, and international tourist spending from June to August rose 8.9% to about €9.77 billion, according to figures released on Tuesday by the small-business group Pimec. The average hotel stay, however, slipped from 3.05 to 2.98 nights and overnight stays across regulated accommodation fell 1.6%. Rising income from visitors supports jobs, but shorter trips are a warning sign for coastal restaurants and shops that depend on longer holidays. (ON Economia, VIA Empresa)
France
Paris stocks rise as oil and borrowing costs ease; Alstom wins Hanoi metro deal. The CAC 40 closed up 0.40% at 7,865.07 on Tuesday, helped by lower oil prices and a calmer market for French government bonds. Alstom shares jumped more than 4% after an agreement with Vietnam’s Vingroup for up to 200 metro trains for Hanoi, 83 of them to be built at its Valenciennes plant in northern France. Easier bond yields matter for a country whose 2027 budget is still being fought over, while the train order supports industrial jobs. (Boursorama, Zonebourse, Abcbourse)
Euro hovers near a 17-month low on French debt worries. The single currency touched about $1.116 on Monday, its weakest in 17 months, and traded around $1.12 on Tuesday as investors fretted about France’s public finances and political deadlock, with Spain also heading to a snap election. A weaker euro makes dollar-priced oil and fuel dearer for European consumers and trips to the US more expensive, though it helps exporters. (Reuters / Yahoo Finance, Marketplace)
United Kingdom
FTSE 100 rises for a third day, but defence stocks fall. London’s FTSE 100 closed up 0.42% at 10,541.69 on Tuesday as cheaper oil eased inflation worries, while BAE Systems fell about 4% on reports that the government may wait until autumn 2027 to set out when defence spending will reach 3% of GDP. Events group Informa rose about 3% after agreeing to buy Clarion Events from Blackstone for £2.24 billion, partly funded by a £940 million share sale. Lower oil and gilt yields take some pressure off fuel bills and fixed-rate mortgage pricing. (Alliance News / MarketScreener, Trading Economics, LSE.co.uk)
Asos shares drop about 9.5% after a cyberattack. The online fashion retailer confirmed that a cyberattack exposed customers’ personal data, though it said payment details were not affected. The shares fell roughly 9.5% on Tuesday, and customers are advised to watch out for phishing messages that could use the stolen details. (Alliance News / MarketScreener, Milano Finanza)
Germany
DAX gains 0.8% as bond yields ease and tech stocks rally. Frankfurt’s DAX closed up 0.77% at 25,449.19 on Tuesday, lifted by a record on the Nasdaq, lower oil and calmer bond markets; SAP gained about 2%, while defence stocks such as Hensoldt and Rheinmetall fell. Investors now await August industrial production from the statistics office Destatis this morning, which will show whether the 10.6% plunge in factory orders reported on Tuesday spilled over into output. (Handelsblatt, dpa-AFX / ARIVA)
Italy
CVC and GBL lift their Recordati bid to €53 a share. The private-equity-backed bidder for the Milan drugmaker raised its offer from €51.29 to €53 per share on Tuesday, valuing Recordati at about €10.5 billion, and extended the acceptance period to October 23. Small shareholders now have until that date to decide whether to sell, with some analysts saying the price is still low. (ANSA, Milano Finanza)
Stellantis output in Italy rises 28%, but the 2026 outlook is cut. The FIM-CISL union reported on Tuesday that Stellantis built 340,745 vehicles in Italy in January–September, up 28.3% on a weak 2025, but it now expects only about 450,000 for the full year, down from more than 500,000, and the Cassino plant’s output fell 37.1%. Thousands of workers still rely on short-time pay, and production remains about 12% below 2024 levels. (AGI, ANSA, Milano Finanza)
Portugal
Parliament debates a fifth income-tax cut today. Lawmakers debate on Wednesday the government’s bill to cut IRS income-tax rates in the first six brackets by 0.3 to 0.5 points, backdated to January and reflected in November pay slips through lower withholding. The savings are modest, at around €100 a year on a €2,000 monthly salary. The Bank of Portugal also publishes updated growth and inflation forecasts today; in June it projected 1.8% growth and 3.1% inflation for 2026. (Observador, ECO, e-konomista)
United States
Paramount closes its $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. The deal completed on Tuesday after Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan declined a last-minute request to block it, and the combined company, called Skydance, now owns HBO Max, Paramount+, CNN and CBS. Warner shareholders receive $31 a share, and a settlement with a group of states requires at least 30 cinema releases a year. Fewer big competitors in streaming could mean higher subscription prices, and the merged group is expected to cut costs. (Yahoo Finance, Philadelphia Inquirer)
Mortgage rates stay near 7.4% even as Treasury yields ease. The 10-year Treasury yield fell about 3.6 basis points to roughly 5.27% on Tuesday, still close to the 24-year high it touched last week, while the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate held at 7.40% according to Zillow data. Minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last meeting are due on Wednesday afternoon and will be scanned for clues on further rate moves, which feed directly into home, car and credit-card borrowing costs. (TheStreet, Yahoo Finance, FXStreet)
Canada
Business activity slows sharply while price pressures build. The seasonally adjusted Ivey purchasing managers’ index fell to 58.2 in September from 64.3 in August, well below forecasts, while its prices component climbed to 82.8 from 80.4. Activity is still expanding, but businesses report rising costs, adding to inflation concerns ahead of the Bank of Canada’s October rate decision. (Reuters / WSAU, MarketScreener, Trading Economics)
Mexico
Consumer confidence drops to 45.1 in September. Confidence fell 1.2 points from August, with all five components lower, according to data released on Tuesday by INEGI and the Bank of Mexico; households’ view of their ability to buy durable goods such as furniture and appliances slipped to 32.0. Weaker confidence points to more cautious spending on big purchases, holidays and housing. The peso, meanwhile, briefly moved back below 18 per dollar on Tuesday ahead of September inflation data due Thursday. (Maya Comunicación, Síntesis, Excélsior)
Brazil
Dollar closes below R$5 for the first time since May. The US dollar fell about 0.5% to roughly R$4.975 on Tuesday, while the Ibovespa slipped 0.52% to 205,835 points as investors took profits after Monday’s 7.7% surge, and long-term interest-rate futures dropped sharply. Markets are betting that a win for Flávio Bolsonaro in the October 25 runoff would bring tighter public finances. A stronger real makes imports and foreign travel cheaper and helps contain inflation, while lower long-term rates can ease loan costs. (CNN Brasil, InfoMoney, Forbes Brasil)
Argentina
Central bank reserves climb back above $49 billion. The BCRA bought $41 million on Tuesday, its seventh straight day of purchases, and gross reserves rose $326 million to about $49.12 billion, a two-week high, helped by higher gold prices. The wholesale dollar held at 1,520 pesos and the Merval index rose about 1%. Bigger reserves support a steadier peso, which helps keep inflation in check. (Ámbito, Infobae)
Morocco
Casablanca’s main index falls below 17,000 points. The MASI dropped 1.56% to 16,892.55 on Tuesday, pushing total market value below 1 trillion dirhams to about 994 billion, with pharmaceutical stocks down more than 9% as a sector. The fall hits savers in equity funds and pension products just as a weaker dirham raises import costs. Separately, the World Bank on Tuesday forecast Moroccan growth of 4.4% this year, among the strongest in the region. (Médias24, Hespress, The National)
Egypt
World Bank raises Egypt’s growth estimate to 5.1%. In its regional update released on Tuesday, the World Bank put Egypt’s growth at 5.1% for the 2025/26 fiscal year, up from 4.4% the year before, making it one of the better performers in a region hit hard by the Iran war. September inflation figures, due around October 10, will shape the central bank’s next interest-rate move. (Ahram Online, The National)
Nigeria
World Bank lifts Nigeria’s 2026 growth forecast to 4.3%. The World Bank’s Africa update raised Nigeria’s growth outlook from 4.0% and expects higher oil export earnings to widen the current-account surplus to about 6% of GDP this year. A stronger external position supports the naira and reserves, which helps hold down import and fuel prices, though growth per person across the region remains weak. (Nairametrics, BusinessDay, Leadership)
South Africa
Record fuel prices take effect without tax relief. From Wednesday, 95 petrol costs a record R30.25 a litre inland, and the government has not reintroduced the fuel-levy relief it offered from April to June, which cost the Treasury R17.2 billion. Economists say the fiscal room for another cut is limited, so commuters, taxi users and food transport will absorb the full increase. The rand held steady at about R16.63 per dollar on Tuesday. (IOL, Voice of the Cape, Reuters / Business Recorder)
China
Holiday box office passes 1 billion yuan. Cinema takings for the eight-day National Day holiday, including presales, crossed 1 billion yuan on Tuesday evening with two days still to go, according to ticketing data reported by state media. Last year’s holiday took about 1.84 billion yuan in total, so this year’s pace remains modest, a sign that spending on leisure is still cautious. Mainland markets stay closed until after the holiday. (CGTN, Bastille Post, Reuters / iTiger)
Japan
Ten-year borrowing costs top 3.1% at a strong bond auction. The Finance Ministry sold 10-year government bonds at an average yield of 3.101%, with bids worth about 3.8 times the amount on offer, as yields on longer bonds hovered near three-decade highs. Worries about Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s spending plans and a planned consumption-tax cut keep pushing yields up, which feeds into mortgage rates and the state’s interest bill, while savers get the best fixed returns in decades. (Ministry of Finance, Reuters / Business Recorder)
India
RBI raises the repo rate to 5.5%, its first hike since 2023. The Reserve Bank of India’s six-member committee voted unanimously on Wednesday to lift the repo rate by 0.25 points to 5.5% and switched its stance from neutral to “calibrated tightening”, with Governor Sanjay Malhotra saying a cut is unlikely in the near term. He cited inflation risks, a strong dollar and Middle East tensions. The Sensex and Nifty fell about 0.7–0.9% after the decision, and floating-rate home and car loans linked to the repo rate will become more expensive, while deposit rates may rise. (Business Standard, FXStreet, Upstox)
South Korea
Kospi falls further ahead of Samsung’s results. Seoul’s main index opened down 1.11% at 6,864.25 on Wednesday, extending Tuesday’s losses, as foreign investors kept selling. Samsung Electronics publishes preliminary third-quarter results on Thursday, and analysts expect operating profit above 100 trillion won, which would be a first for any Korean company, on soaring memory-chip prices. Samsung is the largest holding for Korean pension funds and retail investors, so the result will set the tone for the market and the won. (Korea JoongAng Daily, Trading Economics, BigGo Finance)
Middle East
Oil climbs back above $100 a barrel. Brent crude rose about 1% to roughly $101.5 in Asian trading on Wednesday and US crude moved above $90, after Yemen’s Houthis claimed missile and drone strikes on Saudi airports, which Saudi Arabia had not confirmed, and as a storm forming in the Gulf of Mexico threatened US offshore output. The rebound undoes much of Tuesday’s relief and keeps pressure on fuel, freight and food costs in importing countries. (Reuters / Investing.com, investingLive, Trading Economics)
World Bank sees the region’s economy shrinking 2.1% this year. The World Bank’s regional update, released on Tuesday, forecasts that Gulf economies will contract by 4.3% on average in 2026 because of the Iran war, with Qatar down 20.9%, Kuwait 14.6% and Saudi Arabia 2.0%, while Oman is the only Gulf state expected to grow. The bank expects a strong rebound in 2027 if the conflict subsides. The slump hits government revenues and jobs, including those of millions of migrant workers who send money home. (The National, Arab News, Ahram Online)
Australia
One in six cafés raises coffee prices after the card-surcharge ban. Since the Reserve Bank’s ban on card surcharges took effect on October 1, about 17% of cafés tracked by the Small Flat White index have raised prices, typically by around 50 cents, and the average flat white now costs A$5.16. Paying by card no longer carries a fee, but menu prices are creeping up for everyone, including cash payers. (ABC News, SmartCompany)
Home building starts rise 7%. Dwelling commencements rose 7.0% to 52,201 in the June quarter, with new house starts up 11.6%, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday. More supply is the main long-term lever on rents and prices, but building remains behind the national 1.2 million new-homes target. The ASX 200 slipped about 0.3% on Wednesday. (Grafa, ABC News, Reuters / Business Recorder)
Sources & method
Compiled by The Daily Economy editorial team with AI assistance from the sources linked in each item, cross-checked in at least two outlets, and updated several times a day. Read our editorial policy.