Weekend Buzz: 3-4 October 2026

Group of 7 to Release Diesel Reserves to Mitigate Record Prices

The leaders of the Group of 7 nations agreed to release up to 100 million barrels of crude oil and diesel over the next four months to ease a supply crunch that has caused soaring global prices. In particular, diesel, a petroleum distillate vital in fueling heavy freight transport and delivery services, and operation of farm and construction machinery, has been trading at record highs, with the wars in Iran and Ukraine largely blamed. After the G7 decision was announced, US President Trump withdrew earlier threats to ban US exports of diesel. The US is the world's largest supplier and a ban would have hurt nations that heavily depend on those supplies. Russia, a major producer, has already curtailed exports of diesel after repeated Ukrainian air strikes on its refineries. The G7 members are the US, UK, Japan, France, Canada, Germany and Italy. Global benchmark Brent crude futures closed trading in New York on Friday at US$102.25 a barrel.

Brazilians Head to the Polls in Election Pitting Left Against Far Right

Brazil, the most populous country in Latin America, goes to the polls on Sunday for a presidential election pitting leftist incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva against far-right rival Flávio Bolsonaro, son of jailed former president Jair Bolsonaro. Polls show 80-year-old Lula with a slender lead. "If it weren't for me standing up to these fascists, they'd easily win another election," Lula said in a podcast. "It's either me or it's barbarism." Flávio Bolsonaro said he will pardon his father if elected. The elder Bolsonaro is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a failed coup after Lula beat him in the 2022 election. The Bolsonaro family are friends of US President Donald Trump, who Lula claims is trying to swing the vote against him with a campaign of economic and diplomatic pressure.

Saudi Arabia Provides US$60 Million to Western-Backed Yemen Government

Saudi Arabia is providing over US$60 million to support the internationally recognized government of Yemen, which has been fighting a civil war with Iran-backed Houthi rebels for 12 years. The support is aimed at propping up the government, which still controls about two-thirds of Yemeni territory but only about 20 percent of its population. The Houthis have been using the territory they control to attack Saudi oil facilities and Red Sea shipping.

French Schools Close Amid Violent Student Protests

French authorities closed more than 400 schools as student demonstrations over deteriorating school facilities and teacher shortages turned violent. The protests that started last month escalated on Friday into clashes between riot police and masked demonstrators in cities including Marseille, Toulouse, Rennes and Aubervilliers. Demonstrators set fires and threw fireworks, prompting police to deploy tear gas, batons and rubber bullets. Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said about 2,000 arrests have been made since the unrest began.

Top Business

China's Abogen Signs US$7.8 Billion Licensing Deal With Novartis

Suzhou-based biotech company Abogen said on Friday it has signed a licensing deal worth up to US$7.8 billion with Swiss-based Novartis to develop messenger RNA-based therapies. Under the deal, Novartis will gain exclusive rights to Abogen's experimental drug ABO2203 and options to license other therapies based on Abogen's RNA technology. Abogen will receive a US$575 million upfront payment, with the potential to earn an additional US$7.2 billion if the drug advances through development stages and wins regulatory approval. Novartis has come under investor scrutiny over its setbacks in earlier deals, after disclosing last month two late-stage trial failures that wiped nearly US$30 billion from its market value and sparked calls from a major shareholder for tighter board oversight ⁠of future acquisitions. Novartis said Abogen's ribonucleic acid technology complements its existing approach to autoimmune disease.

JD on Track for EU Approval to Acquire German Retailer

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com is poised to secure EU approval for its US$2.5 billion bid for German electronics retailer Ceconomy after modifications to address regulatory concerns, Reuters reported. At issue was whether JD.com received preferential financing, tax incentives and grants from the Chinese government that may have helped it to offer a higher price for Ceconomy. The EU will announce its decision on the deal by November 4.

Argentina Hosts Chinese Auto Show Amid Wider Market Access

Buenos Aires is hosting its first Chinese auto show as the Argentine car market shifts from heavy protectionism to a more open, competitive environment under President Javier Milei. The new policies allow up to 50,000 China-made electric and hybrid vehicles into the country without tariffs. Chinese brands accounted for 10 percent of car and light commercial vehicle sales in Argentina in August, up from about 2 percent at the end of last year. BYD, China's largest carmaker, has become the ninth best-selling car brand. At the auto show, more than 20 Chinese brands, including BYD, Geely, Chery and Great Wall Motor, are on display.

Nvidia to Launch New DGX Spark On-Device AI

Nvidia announced on Friday that it will launch a new 64 gigabyte configuration of its DGX Spark system later this month. Starting at US$4,999, the device is designed to run artificial intelligence models with up to 100 billion parameters locally on-device. The DGX Spark model will be available globally beginning October 23 through major hardware partners, including Acer, Asus, Dell, Gigabyte, HP and MSI.

Amazon Seeks to Offload US$8 Billion of Nvidia AI Chips

Amazon is in talks to sell about US$8 billion worth of advanced Nvidia chips to external investors and lease them back, according to the Financial Times. Under the proposed deal, Amazon would transfer thousands of Grace Blackwell graphics processing units into a special-purpose vehicle. Outside investors would fund the purchase through debt issuance, with Amazon taking no equity stake. Amazon also offer external investors an equity interest of up to 10 percent. The strategy allows Amazon to adopt a more asset-light model for its data center infrastructure and strengthen its balance sheet by shifting the substantial costs of high-end AI hardware.

Economy and Markets

US Posts Weaker Jobs Growth, Bond Yields Remain at Multiyear Highs

The US reported the addition of just 29,000 jobs in September, well below market estimates. Weak jobs growth and an earlier soft inflation report initially tamped down speculation that the US Federal Reserve would raise rates again this year after last month's quarter-point hike, sending US Treasury bond yields lower and precious metals prices higher. However, by the end of the trading day in New York, yields ticked back up, and gold and silver fell. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was quoted at 5.273 percent, gold dropped 0.7 percent to US$4,172 and silver slipped 0.8 percent to US$60.70. Wall Street stock markets rose on eased concerns about higher borrowing costs.

Gobi Desert 'Power Bank' Connects to Grid

China's first 100 megawatt-class compressed carbon dioxide energy storage project, the China Huadian Xinjiang Mulei project, successfully connected to the grid on Friday. Located in the Gobi Desert, the facility has a storage capacity of 1,000 megawatt-hours and is equipped with five gas storage chambers, 141 liquid storage units and 97 thermal storage units. The project charts a new path for long-duration energy storage and new power system development in China.

China Airfares Drop as Long Holiday Begins

Airfares in China fell sharply as the weeklong National Day holiday began on October 1, with prices on some routes dropping as much as half on the first day, according to travel platform Qunar. Average ticket prices fell about 20 percent on October 2 from a day earlier and are expected to reach their holiday low this weekend. However, fares are forecast to rise on the last days of the holiday as travelers return home.

China's railway network handled a one-day record of 25 million passenger trips on October 1, China State Railway Group reported. An additional 1,462 trains are in service to handle holiday demand. The railway system, largest in the world, added four newly opened high-speed sections this week.

US, South Korea at Odds Over Investment in Alaskan Gas Project

President Donald Trump said on Friday that a US trade deal with South Korea now includes an US$8.4 billion investment in an oil recovery project. Earlier in the week, Trump said Seoul will invest US$200 billion in US projects, but the South Korean government immediately pushed back, saying a key element, a US$54 billion investment in a liquefied natural gas project in Alaska, wasn't finalized. Trump then said he wasn't "jumping the gun" in making the announcement and added that Seoul's investment would include the construction of eight nuclear power plants, a natural gas pipeline and a 6-gigawatt power generation facility. A broader US$350 billion investment package was part of a 2025 trade agreement with Washington to avert higher tariffs.

Corporate

Tesla Posts Stronger-Than-Expected Q3 Deliveries

Tesla posted higher-than-forecast global deliveries of 486,532 electric vehicles in the third quarter – a 2 percent decline from a year earlier but a 1.3 percent gain from the previous three months. Car production in the latest quarter rose 3.8 percent to 464,391. The entry-level Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV continued to drive sales, accounting for 478,237 of total deliveries. Tesla operates a mega factory in Shanghai, producing vehicles for the Chinese mainland market and export.

Anthropic Targets Early November IPO

US AI giant Anthropic is targeting a November 9 launch for its initial public offering in New York, reportedly seeking a valuation above US$2 trillion, Bloomberg News said. Pricing and number of shares haven't been disclosed yet. Anthropic reported a 12-fold increase in 2025 revenue to US$4.6 billion but posted a net loss of US$42 billion on heavy AI infrastructure spending. The company plans to spend US$518 billion on cloud, computing and infrastructure obligations in the coming years.

KPMG China Fined US$4 Million

KPMG Huazhen, the Chinese arm of global accounting firm KPMG, was fined over 29 million yuan (US$4.3 million) by Chinese securities regulators over audit failures related to Shenyang Chemical Industry. Liaoning Province securities regulators said KPMG Huazhen failed to exercise due diligence when auditing the listed chemical producer's 2018-21 financial statements. The firm was ordered to surrender 7.26 million yuan in audit fees and fined 21.8 million yuan. Shenyang Chemical's subsidiary manipulated production inputs and delayed inventory recognition, resulting in misstated profits across several years, according to the regulator.