1. Asian pharma stocks extend declines after Trump slaps 100% levies on branded drugs
Shares of Asian pharmaceutical companies fell Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced fresh tariffs on furniture, heavy trucks and pharmaceutical products. Starting from Oct. 1, “any branded or patented Pharmaceutical Product” faces 100% duties, except for companies that build drug manufacturing plants in the U.S., Trump said in a Truth Social post early Friday. The Topix Pharma Index fell 1.47% following the announcement. Daiichi Sankyo and Chugai Pharmaceutical were among the companies that led losses, declining 2.11% and 3.64%, respectively. Sumitomo Pharma extended losses, tumbling 5.33%. Heavyweight South Korean pharma stocks like Samsung Biologics and SK Bio Pharmaceuticals were down 1.71% and 3.71%, respectively.
2. Stocks close higher Friday after in-line inflation data, but S&P 500 snaps 3-week winning streak
Stocks climbed on Friday, but still finished the week lower following the release of crucial inflation data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 299.97 points, or 0.65%, to close at 46,247.29. The S&P 500 added 0.59% to close at 6,643.70, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.44% to settle at 22,484.07. Friday’s rally snapped a three-day losing streak for the major indexes, but still ended the week down. The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 slid 0.7% and 0.3%, marking each index’s first losing week in four. The Dow shed 0.2%. August’s personal consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure, showed that core inflation – a measure excluding food and energy costs – ran at a 2.9% seasonally adjusted annual rate.
3. Gold firms as inflation data keeps Fed rate cut bets alive
Gold gained on Friday after U.S. inflation data came in line with expectations, reinforcing bets that the Federal Reserve may continue with interest rate cuts later this year. Spot gold rose 0.8% to $3,777.79 per ounce as of 11:04 a.m. EDT (1504 GMT), after hitting a record $3,790.82 earlier in the week. The metal has risen about 2.5% this week. U.S. gold futures for December delivery rose 1% to $3,807.90. Data showed that U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index rose 2.7% year-on-year in August, in line with economists’ expectations in a Reuters poll. Investors now see an 88% probability of a rate cut in October and a 65% chance of another in December, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
4. Oil gains on Ukraine drone attacks cutting Russian supply
Oil prices rose on Friday as Ukraine’s drone attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure cut the country’s fuel exports. Brent futures gained 71 cents, or 1.02%, to close at $70.13 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose by 74 cents, or 1.14%, to settle at $65.72 a barrel. Russia will introduce a partial ban on diesel exports until the end of the year and extend an existing ban on gasoline exports, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday. The drop in refining capacity has left several Russian regions facing shortages of certain grades of fuel.
5. Markets won’t care if Trump fires Fed Governor Cook, DOJ tells Supreme Court
President Donald Trump’s firing of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook for alleged misconduct would not cause “financial market disaster,” the Department of Justice argued in a Supreme Court filing Friday. Solicitor General D. John Sauer made that argument as he urged the high court to let Trump’s bid to fire Cook take effect while proceedings in her lawsuit against the president continue. Trump, argued Sauer, “suffers irreparable harm” from lower-court rulings ordering Cook’s reinstatement for the time being. On the other hand, “recognizing the President’s power to remove Governors for apparent financial misfeasance would not compromise the Federal Reserve’s policy independence,” Sauer wrote.
6. Supreme Court allows Trump to withhold $4 billion in foreign aid funding
The Supreme Court on Friday handed another win to the Trump administration by allowing it to withhold $4 billion in spending on foreign aid that was appropriated by Congress. A federal judge had previously ruled that the administration would have to spend the funds by the end of the month, but the Supreme Court’s decision puts that on hold. The brief order noted that the government has made a “sufficient showing” that the groups that sued were barred from bringing the lawsuit in question under a law called the Impoundment Control Act. The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, also noted that “the asserted harms to the Executive’s conduct of foreign affairs appear to outweigh the potential harm” to the plaintiffs, which are various groups that receive foreign aid funds.
7. Russia launches major drone and missile attack on Ukraine, hits Kyiv hard
Russia launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine early on Sunday, killing at least four people and injuring dozens, in one of the most sustained attacks on the capital since the full-scale war began. Neighbouring Poland closed its airspace near two south-eastern cities and its air force scrambled jets in response until the danger had passed. Ukraine’s military said that Russia had launched 595 drones and 48 missiles overnight and its air defences shot down 568 drones and 43 missiles. It noted that the main target of the strike was the capital Kyiv. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the attack lasted more than 12 hours and caused widespread damage to a cardiology clinic, factories and residential buildings. He renewed calls on the international community to act decisively to cut off Russia’s energy revenues that fund its invasion. Ukraine has so far failed to convince U.S. President Donald Trump to impose punitive sanctions on Moscow.
8. Spain gets triple credit boost as Moody’s; Fitch join S&P in upgrades
Spain received a double boost from global ratings agencies Moody’s and Fitch on Friday, joining S&P Global to upgrade the country’s rating citing its improving economy and labour market. The country’s economy, which expanded more than initially expected, outpaced its euro zone peers in the second quarter as all major sectors expanded. Unemployment also fell to its lowest levels since early 2008. Spain had received a rating boost from S&P Global earlier this month, citing improved external finances driven by its private sector, which represents over half of its GDP. The Spanish government had raised the annual economic growth forecast of the country earlier this month, helped by the steady economic expansion of the country after the pandemic, something that has hindered growth at other European peers.
9. Core inflation rate held at 2.9% in August, as expected, Fed’s gauge shows
Core inflation was little changed in August, according to the Federal Reserve’s primary forecasting tool, likely keeping the central bank on pace for interest rate reductions ahead. The personal consumption expenditures price index posted a 0.3% gain for the month, putting the annual headline inflation rate at 2.7%, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Excluding food and energy, the more closely followed core PCE price level was 2.9% on an annual basis after rising 0.2% for the month. The headline annual inflation rate was a slight increase from the 2.6% in July while the core rate was the same. Though the Fed targets inflation at 2%, the readings are unlikely to change course for policymakers who last week indicated they see two more quarter percentage point reductions before the end of the year.
10. UAE president meets OpenAI CEO to discuss AI collaboration
The president of the United Arab Emirates, which has been spending billions in its push to become a global player in AI, met OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, the UAE state news agency reported. Discussions between Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Altman focused on strengthening cooperation between OpenAI and its counterparts in the UAE, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence research and its practical applications, the state news agency said. “This cooperation aligns with the UAE’s ambition to establish an integrated AI ecosystem, supporting the country’s development plans and its drive to build a knowledge-based economy,” the agency added. The UAE, a major oil exporter, is building one of the world’s largest AI data centres and launching a new Arabic-language AI model.
11. Videogame maker EA in advanced talks to go private at roughly $50 billion valuation
Electronic Arts, the videogame publisher behind titles such as “FC” and “Battlefield”, is in advanced talks to go private at a valuation of roughly $50 billion, according to sources familiar with the matter. A group of investors including private equity firm Silver Lake, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners could unveil a deal for the publisher as soon as next week, the sources said on Friday. If it goes through, the deal would mark the largest ever leveraged buyout in history. The take-private offer comes at a crucial time for EA, which is banking heavily on its core sports portfolio and action shooter intellectual property to weather a sluggish videogame industry as gamers get picky with spending.
12. Trump’s energy pivot accelerates US solar and wind power mergers, asset sales
The Trump administration’s rapid retreat from renewable energy has kicked off consolidation and asset sales among smaller U.S. solar and wind power companies as they scramble to stay afloat, industry insiders and analysts said. President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) has overhauled tax credits and sharply shortened eligibility windows for solar and wind projects as part of an “energy dominance” agenda focused on oil, gas, coal and nuclear, in a sharp departure from the green energy-focused policies under his predecessor Joe Biden. Clean energy deals surged to 63 with a combined value of around $34 billion in the first half of 2025, according to KPMG, versus roughly 57 deals worth about $7 billion in the second half of 2024.
