News

According to the Iranian news agency IRNA: Saudi Foreign Minister and U.S. Secretary of State Rubio met in Atlanta, USA, on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting to exchange views on the latest situation in the region and related issues.

According to the Financial Times, OpenAI has lowered its funding target by $10 billion as tech anxiety intensifies.

Alphabet (GOOG.O) is in talks with the Pentagon to join President Trump's $185 bln "Golden Dome" missile-defense program, focusing on data security, storage, networking and cybersecurity to harden military command-and-control data transmissions, sources said. Discussions are at an early stage; Alphabet's network unit Aalyria is participating in consortium preparations. The Pentagon said it has not made a final decision on forming a new consortium or on participating firms.

Apple (AAPL.O) closed Friday with a market value of $5.03 trillion, surpassing NVIDIA (NVDA.O) at $4.93 trillion to become the world’s largest listed company for the first time since late July. Apple shares fell 1.2% while NVIDIA dropped 4.2%. Recent results from Intel (INTC.O) and Amazon (AMZN.O) have heightened investor concern over returns on large AI capital expenditures; Alphabet (GOOG.O) and Meta Platforms (META.O) faced earlier selling. Apple’s relatively restrained infrastructure spending and stronger free cash flow have underpinned its resilience amid the tech sell-off. Year-to-date Apple is up about 27%; NVIDIA is down over 10% in the past month.

According to White House correspondent Fraser Jackson, a source said the $2.1 billion Patriot missile procurement agreement between Ukraine and the United States involves newly produced missiles, with deliveries expected to begin after 2030. Therefore, these 500 missiles will not come from existing U.S. stockpiles and are not currently in production.

Sources familiar with the matter revealed that the White House will nominate Mulfarig, the former head of the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection, to serve as a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission.

Fitch: France’s rating is supported by several factors, including GDP per capita above the 'A' median and governance metrics well above the rating class median.

Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski: Discussed joint projects with US Secretary of State Rubio, and expects more Polish-US initiatives to emerge on the international stage.

Bank of America (BAC.N): It is not expected that the costs of anti-money laundering rectification and compliance in future periods will have a significant impact on non-interest expenses.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov: Russia's position on a solution to the Ukraine issue remains unchanged; Moscow cannot accept military threats from Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov: The fundamental problems in US-Russia relations have not been resolved, sanctions remain in effect, and weapons are still being sent to Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov: It is unclear what Ukraine will propose in the new round of negotiations on a solution, but Ukrainian President Zelensky's remarks on long-range strikes are unhelpful.

Fitch: We currently forecast that France's debt-to-GDP ratio will rise from 115.7% in 2025 to approximately 124% in 2028.

Fitch: It estimates that the cumulative fiscal adjustment needed to stabilize French debt has risen from 3% in August to about 3.5% of GDP.

Fitch expects to review France's rating no later than the end of February 2027, believing that developments in the country are sufficient to justify a departure from the established schedule.

Fitch: The negative outlook for France reflects weak growth, rising borrowing costs and widening deficits.

Fitch: Recent protests in France and limited fiscal space have weakened the authorities' ability to buffer the economy from a new round of energy shocks.

Fitch: The prospects for achieving full and sustained mid-term fiscal consolidation after the 2027 French presidential election and possible parliamentary elections remain uncertain.

Fitch: The French political landscape remains highly fragmented, making it difficult to reach and implement a credible fiscal strategy.

Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski: The United States has proposed that Poland become a permanent member of the G20, and Poland is lobbying for this.