News & Insight • Weekly Newsletters

17 October 2025 | William Buckhurst

That Was The Week That Was

MACRO NEWS

Global stock markets regained some of the declines from the previous week after a slight climb down from President Trump on potential further tariffs on China. At the start of the week, Trump indicated openness to doing a further deal with China.

After those comments, the Chinese Foreign Ministry made clear that it would take cues from the US’s next steps while noting that there could be “exemptions” for their curbs on rare earth exports in order to facilitate trade.

French PM Lecornu survived his two no-confidence votes.

Bank of Japan Governor Ueda has indicated that the central bank will persist with tightening measures if confidence in achieving its economic outlook improves, thereby leaving the possibility open for a near-term interest rate hike.

Credit Crunch 2.0? With Bradford Bulls being restated to the Super League was it the end of the bull run in the markets? With bank jitters due to Zions Bancorp making a $50m charge-off and Western Alliance alleging it also suffered from fraud on loans it drew inevitable comparisons to the regional bank stress that followed the collapse of SVB in March 2023 and raised broader questions over potential credit quality issues after a lengthy period of expansion in private credit, following also the bankruptcy of subprime auto lender Tricolor last month.

COMPANY NEWS

LVMH shares finished higher after releasing better than expected figures. Organic revenue growth was only 1% over the quarter (against -0.7% expected) but predicted declines were more muted in Fashion & Leather Goods, and other divisions all beat expectations.

ASML reported in line results with good order growth and revenue guidance better than feared.

US banks are generally in good shape – other than Zions Bancorp and Western Alliance mentioned earlier. JP Morgan announced it will take stakes in companies of up to $10bn as part of a broader 10-year initiative to finance $1.5tn in so-called critical sectors.

The largest number we have ever seen was reported by PayPal blockchain partner Paxos as it mistakenly minted $300trn worth of so-called stablecoins.

Swiss ABB reported solid results with 2% beats across the board fuelled by motion and electrification.

Novo Nordisk shares fell after President Trump said the monthly price of Ozempic could go down to $150.

TSMC shares were largely unchanged (following a very steep rise) as they reported – broadly as expected – 39% profit growth, while raising quarterly revenue guidance.

Nestle shares shot up as new CEO, Philipp Navratil, set out plans to drive faster growth and cut costs. Nespresso was particularly strong and real internal growth (RIG) across the portfolio of brands was +3.3%.

Johnson & Johnson marked time as earnings and revenue in the MedTech division were in line. Innovative Medicine sales rose 5.3%, above consensus estimates with key new drugs growing strongly. The company increased sales guidance, left earnings unchanged and announced the split of Orthopaedics.

Salesforce raised guidance and declared a buyback whilst fellow tech company Oracle raised margin guidance on future AI projects to be roughly 35%.

EssilorLuxottica posted record revenue rise of 11.7% that beat estimates, lifted by a new batch of AI glasses with partner Meta Platforms Inc.

GREEN LIGHTS

Renewable energy overtook coal as the world's leading source of electricity in the first half of this year - a historic first, according to new data from the global energy think tank Ember. One reason is that China added more solar and wind capacity than the rest of the globe combined.

However, China still burns as much coal as the rest of the world, but last month President Xi Jinping promised to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and expand renewable energy by sixfold in the coming years. A big part of that effort is in sparsely inhabited Qinghai, a province in western China in a region known among the Tibetans as Amdo. On the Tibetan Plateau, nearly 10,000 feet high, solar panels stretch to the horizon and cover an area larger than the Isle of Wight. The sunlight is brighter because the air is so thin.

ON BROAD-WAY

Another week, another AI deal. Broadcom rose 10% following another report of a contract win with OpenAI. It was reported that OpenAI had agreed to buy custom ASICs and networking equipment starting in late 2026.

As part of the agreement, OpenAI will design the hardware and work with Broadcom to develop it with OpenAI stating that it would embed what it has learned from developing AI models and services “directly into hardware, unlocking new levels of capability and intelligence.” Cost details were light.

Elsewhere, Google plans to invest $9bn through 2027 to expand its AI infrastructure in South Carolina, scaling up its Berkeley County datacentre. It will also invest $10bn to set up an 1GW artificial intelligence hub in Andhra Pradesh.

THE WEEK AHEAD

• In the US, the latest CPI number is released on Friday.
• Company earnings season kicks off in earnest with Amazon, IBM, Thermo Fisher, Sanofi, Tesla, Proctor & Gamble, SAP and Coca Cola all reporting quarterly results.

THE WEEK IN HISTORY

1907: a failed attempt to corner the market on stock of the United Copper Company led to a run on banks that had lent money to the cornering scheme. This later spread to affiliated banks and trust companies and eventually the downfall of the Knickerbocker Trust, New York City’s third-largest trust company.

1998: a surprise 25bps Fed cut, amid the Russia / LTM crisis, sparks an equity market rally.

MARKET DATA