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Google is augmenting its Agentspace product for easily building AI agents at work with new tools for data science and customer engagement.

Investment firms of the ultra-rich made 46% fewer direct investments in September compared with the same period last year, according to Fintrx.

The Canadian Dollar (CAD) is trading flat against the US Dollar (USD) and extending its recent consolidation around a cluster of key technical levels, Scotiabank’s Chief FX Strategists Shaun Osborne and Eric Theoret note.

Minutes of the ECB’s September 10–11 meeting revealed broad agreement among policymakers that there was “no immediate pressure” to adjust interest rates. Officials noted that recent data confirmed inflation is “in a good place” while the domestic economy remains “resilient,” risks to growth now seen as “more balanced.” The ECB recognized that the environment remains […]

The post ECB minutes show comfort with current policy, high value in waiting appeared first on Action Forex.

Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy said his company is focused on working on adding value as talk of an AI bubble mounts.

Headlines:

• China commerce ministry announces export control on some rare earth equipment, materials
• EU expresses concern about China’s decision to further curb rare earth exports
• Fed’s Williams backs further rate cuts this year
• US Treasury secretary Bessent reportedly grilled Fed chair contenders on interest rates
• ECB Accounts: No immediate pressure to change policy rates at the current meeting
• BoE’s Mann: Maintaining restrictiveness for longer is appropriate
• Adviser to Japan’s Takaichi says BOJ should be careful about raising interest rates
• EU president von der Leyen comfortably survives no-confidence votes in parliament
• Germany August trade balance €17.2 billion vs €15.2 billion expected

Markets:

• AUD leads, GBP lags on the day
• European equities mixed; S&P 500 futures flat
• US 10-year yields down 0.6 bps to 4.125%
• Gold up 0.1% to $4,041.95
• WTI crude oil down 0.4% to $62.30
• Bitcoin down 0.1% to $122,812

With the US government shutdown still persisting, markets are still largely left to their own devices in trading this week. And amid a lack of key economic data as well from Europe today, there weren’t too many meaningful headlines.

The one that stands out is arguably China sending a warning message to the US as they announce more curbs on rare earth exports. This comes ahead of a meeting between Xi and Trump for later this month in South Korea.

It’s not one that is reverberating all too much but definitely something to be mindful of as it sets the tone for what kind of line China wants to draw heading into any talks.

In the FX space, the dollar was bid early on in the session with USD/JPY even moving above 153.00 for a brief period. However, that all fizzled out with New York Fed president Williams remarking that he would back more rate cuts by year-end. USD/JPY dropped afterwards and is now trading flat at 152.67 on the day.

Similarly, EUR/USD also moved back up to 1.1620 levels now – also keeping flattish – after coming close to a test of 1.1600 earlier. Still, the pair is not out of danger just yet with a break under its 100-day moving average one to watch.

Besides that, changes were light elsewhere with USD/CHF down 0.1% now to 0.8007 and AUD/USD back up by 0.2% to 0.6600 after having dropped to 0.6570 earlier in the day.

In other markets, European stocks are keeping more mixed with the DAX pushing to fresh record highs while the CAC 40 is trying to keep with the rebound after the drop from earlier in the week. The peripheries are lagging though with Spanish and Italian stocks falling on the day. As for US futures, things are more muted with levels flat ahead of the Wall Street open later.

In the commodities space, gold is for once not stealing the spotlight today but it has been an impressive recovery after falling to near $4,000 earlier in Asia trading. Price is now trading back up to $4,041 as buyers look to keep the run going with silver on the verge of $50 as well.

This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.

• It was argued that it was important to put the recent appreciation of the euro into a broader perspective
• Recent moves could be seen more as fluctuations of a temporary nature than as part of a consistent trend in one direction
• This would imply that the passthrough to consumer prices should be low given the way in which firms typically priced their goods in the face of exchange rate volatility
• Doubts were expressed about whether the euro’s performance could really be attributed to underlying strength of the euro area economy
• An alternative interpretation of the euro’s performance was that it in fact reflected a fundamental weakness of the dollar
• Geopolitical risks were very high and warranted close attention
• The implications for fiscal policy were also becoming increasingly relevant, as geopolitical tensions could require even more spending on defence
• It remained difficult to assess many of these risks because their likelihood and economic impact were difficult to quantify
• It was contended that the resilience of the euro area economy meant that it remained in relatively good shape
• However, it was also argued that growth had remained weak overall and vulnerable to several downside risks
• Members assessed that risks to economic growth had become more balanced
• Members welcomed the fact that inflation had now been hovering around 2% for a number of months
• Risks surrounding the inflation outlook were identified on both sides
• However, it was also contended that risks surrounding the inflation outlook were rather low since many of them had been partly defused
• Several members viewed inflation risks as tilted to the downside over the medium-term
• A few members viewed inflation risks as tilted to the upside over the medium-term
• But members concurred that the standard measures remained consistent with the 2% medium-term target
• It was argued that the current level of interest rates should be seen as sufficiently robust in managing shocks, in view of two-sided inflation risks
• Overall, there continued to be a high option value to waiting for more information
• Full accounts

The central bank meeting minutes are almost never a market-moving release given that it’s old data by the time they get released. In fact, there’s nothing here that we didn’t already know.

This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at investinglive.com.

From earlier: China commerce ministry announces export control on some rare earth equipment, materials

This is China’s ace card and they won’t be using it all too often and unnecessarily. The latest move here appears to be a statement of intent in sending a message to the US ahead of a meeting between Xi and Trump in South Korea later this month. As a reminder, China’s move to suffocate the US on rare earths played a key role in eventually seeing both sides back down on the tariffs war that started in April. So, watch this space.

This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.