Weak economic data and credit concerns pressure markets lower in this week’s Markets in a Minute.
@ 14:57pm – Friday 17th October 2025 – London.
Markets:
- FTSE 100 fell 0.9% this week to 9,349, pressured by weakness in energy and financials amid rate-cut speculation.
- S&P 500 slipped 0.4% to 6,610, as banking sector concerns offset earlier gains from tech earnings.
- Nasdaq Composite eased 0.3% to 22,450, with volatility in AI-related stocks and profit-taking in mega-cap tech.
- Euro Stoxx 50 declined 0.6% to 3,449, as eurozone equities faced pressure from softer industrial data.
Bonds:
- UK 10-year gilt yields fell ~14 bps to 4.54%, reflecting rate cut speculation following weak labour data.
- U.S. 10-year Treasury yields hovered near 3.95%, down from early-week highs, as markets priced in an October Fed cut.
Commodities:
- Brent crude dropped ~3% to $61, pressured by oversupply concerns and bearish technicals.
- Gold rose ~2.4% to $4,300/oz, supported by safe haven flows and dollar softness.
- Copper traded around $4.90/lb, up ~1% on supply constraints and seasonal demand.
FX:
- GBP/USD slipped 0.1% to 1.3416, as BoE rate-cut expectations weighed on sterling.
- EUR/GBP edged higher to 0.8645, reflecting euro resilience against a softer pound.
Macro:
- UK unemployment rose to 4.8%, its highest since 2021, reinforcing expectations of BoE easing.
- U.S. Beige Book flagged tariff-driven cost pressures; markets now fully price a Fed cut at the October meeting.
- Eurozone industrial output contracted slightly, adding to growth concerns.
- Geopolitics: U.S.–China tensions resurfaced after tariff threats; government shutdown continues into week two.
Companies:
- AstraZeneca: Q3 results will be released on 6 November 2025. Guidance remains for high single-digit revenue growth and low double-digit EPS increase for FY25.
- BP: BP signed a deal to drill five offshore gas wells in Egypt and agreed to sell North Sea stakes to Serica Energy for $232m.
- Coca-Cola: Q3 results due 21 October 2025. Analysts maintain consensus EPS estimate of $0.78 and revenue estimate of $12.41bn.
- Babcock International: Won the MOD Sanctuary Award for Net Zero Resource Efficiency. Continues strategic share buyback program.
What to keep an eye on next week:
w/c 20th October
- Macro: UK CPI (Wed), U.S. retail sales and housing data, Eurozone PMI.
- Central banks: Fed meeting outcome expected mid-week; BoE commentary ahead of November budget.
- Earnings: U.S. tech majors and European banks report; watch for guidance on AI and credit quality.
Markets move constantly and the numbers in this update will change. This is a snapshot only, pulled together from a range of sources, and is meant as a quick guide rather than a precise record. It’s not investment advice and shouldn’t be used to make trading or investment decisions. If you need more accurate or specific data over a defined period, please get in touch with a member of the team who will be happy to help.
Important Information
This article is for information only and does not constitute advice or recommendation and you should not make any investment decisions based on it. The views and opinions of this article are those of Casterbridge at the time of writing and may change without notice. Any opinions should not be viewed as indicating any guarantee of return from investments managed by Casterbridge nor as advice of any nature. It is important to remember that past performance and the value of an investment, and any income from it, may go down as well as up and the investor may not get back the original amount invested.