Morning Edition · Friday, October 9, 2026
Markets
Brent holds above $100 after a 4.1% jump as Trump rules out striking Iran before the midterms
The US blockade at the Strait of Hormuz stays in force, and Vitol's chief executive says ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Oman are the main reason prices are not far higher.
Geopolitics
Iran reviews the US counteroffer on its seven-day Hormuz plan as Trump rules out strikes before November 3
Iran's foreign minister says Tehran will reply within days, while Israeli coverage of New York Times reporting describes a Pentagon option for a three-day campaign against Iran's missile and drone stocks.
Markets
Sensex drops 1,045 points as $104 oil and expected rate hikes hit Indian assets
Thursday's sell-off erased nearly ₹10 lakh crore in market value and pushed the India VIX volatility index up 10%, but Indian equities rebounded sharply on Friday as crude oil eased and the rupee firmed.
Markets
Gold rises 1.1% as Treasury yields ease, while bitcoin falls for a fourth straight day
Spot gold climbed to about $4,178 an ounce from a two-month low, and bitcoin traded near $82,700 as investors pulled money from bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
Geopolitics
US envoys bring new proposals to Miami talks after Russian strikes kill more than 70 Ukrainians in a week
One proposal is a partial ceasefire covering energy infrastructure and grain shipments, which Kyiv has said it would accept and Moscow has so far resisted, while Ukrainian drones injured nine people in Russia's Kaluga region overnight.
Macro
Bank of Thailand tightens checks on foreign-currency and gold inflows as Singapore prepares another tightening
Thailand is using paperwork rules to slow a gold-driven rise in the baht, while China's central bank says it will keep letting the market decide the yuan's exchange rate.
Geopolitics
Pakistan reaffirms its Saudi defense pledge as Houthi strikes on Saudi airports enter a third day
Saudi Arabia confirmed that three people were killed in Houthi strikes on its airports, and Islamabad has confirmed it has troops in the kingdom under a defense pact signed in August.
Macro
ECB minutes show September hike was driven by an energy shock now expected to last into 2027
Policymakers judged that headline inflation would stay well above target into the first half of 2027, but officials speaking on Thursday played down a near-term follow-up move.
Macro
Japanese household spending falls again as Takaichi pushes a two-year cut to the consumption tax on food
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told the upper house that local governments' lost revenue would be fully compensated, and she has pledged to fund the cut without issuing new government bonds.
Macro
Lula adopts a fiscal-discipline message for Brazil's October 25 runoff as polls show a tie with Flávio Bolsonaro
The president will argue that a fourth term would allow interest rates to fall, while his rival proposes a constitutional overhaul of the courts, and a federal judge has let one betting operator keep working despite Lula's ban.
Geopolitics
China opens an air base in Laos as Washington starts direct talks with Myanmar's military government
Satellite images show light attack jets on the new runway at Ban Keun, north of Vientiane, and neighboring states are watching whether Beijing lengthens it for larger aircraft.
Tech
Lumentum sells out of AI optical parts through 2029 as the US suspends Microsoft and Indian IT firms from green-card sponsorship
A supplier backed by Nvidia says its lasers are allocated for years, while Washington accuses large technology employers of abusing the visa system and Microsoft disputes the charge.