Morning Edition · Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Markets
Houthis Say They Hit Saudi Arabia's Largest Refinery as Washington Tells Gulf Allies to Prepare for an Iran Campaign After the Midterms
Brent crude rose $1.48 to $115.36 a barrel in Asian trading, after falling nearly $2 on Tuesday on hopes for diplomatic progress in the region, and Iran told mediators that any new attack would bring strikes on Gulf airports and pipelines.
Macro
Federal Reserve Expected to Hold at 3.75% to 4% Today as New Zealand's Central Bank Skips a Hike Markets Had Priced In
Futures traders see little chance of a Fed move today but a strong chance of a December increase, while the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's 4-3 vote to hold pushed the New Zealand dollar lower against every major currency.
Macro
Brazilian Markets Fall Sharply After Lula's Re-election as Defeated Rival Flávio Bolsonaro Defies a Court Order and Flies to the US
The Ibovespa closed 13.88% lower on Monday, the dollar rose sharply against the real, and on Tuesday the lower house voted for new public spending.
Geopolitics
Netanyahu's Likud Leads Israel's Count but Neither Bloc Nears the 61 Seats Needed to Govern
With about a third of votes counted, Netanyahu's bloc held 57 to 59 projected seats against 46 to 47 for Gadi Eisenkot's opposition bloc, on turnout of 77.7%.
Markets
Anthropic's Listing Plan Lifts Asian Tech Stocks While China's State Funds Buy Shares to Halt a 20% Slide
SK Hynix beat profit forecasts and pledged to return $75 billion to investors this year, while Chinese stocks fell in Tuesday's final hour when expected state buying did not appear.
Geopolitics
Washington Offers Russia Postwar Oil Deals for US Majors to Bring Putin Into Ukraine Talks
On Tuesday, the same day the US offer was reported, Putin spent much of a call with the leaders of Norway and Finland on medieval Slavic history and said little about a ceasefire, according to the Financial Times.
Crypto
Bitcoin Trades Near $81,000 and Gold Holds Above $4,000 as Investors Wait for the Fed
Bitcoin moved with technology stocks rather than with gold on Tuesday, and silver slipped as the ratio of the gold price to the silver price approached 75.
Geopolitics
Gas Exporters Led by Russia, Iran and Qatar Adopt a Moscow Declaration Rejecting Unilateral Sanctions
The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) pledged to build crisis-response mechanisms and opposed the extraterritorial reach of national laws, on the same day Trump suggested that Venezuela, a forum member, become the 51st US state.
Markets
Jio Platforms Lists at a 21% Premium While Oil Above $115 Pulls the Sensex Lower
Jio's shares rose sharply after a very large initial public offering, making it one of India's most valuable listed companies, while the Nifty 50 slipped below 22,600 and Cyclone Arnab struck the east coast.
Macro
IMF Staff Approve Argentina's Third Review, Clearing the Way for $900 Million as Cavallo Urges Milei to Lift Currency Controls
The Fund praised about $16 billion of central-bank dollar purchases this year but toned down its language on Argentina's return to international credit markets and did not say whether the fiscal target was met.
Geopolitics
Ukrainian Strike Causes Fires Near Russia's Novolipetsk Steel Plant as Kyiv Reports More Than 100 Russian Ballistic Missiles in Two Weeks
Kyiv will spend 1 billion hryvnias on water crossings over the Dnipro after Russian missiles hit a major bridge, its mayor said.
World
Russia's Digital Ministry Weighs Routing All Foreign Internet Traffic Through State Filters and Capping How Much Russians Can Use
The proposal, reported by Forbes Russia, could be included in a broad telecom reform bill, though officials have not set specific limits and experts question whether it can work technically.