Market Overview

The Producer Price Index for final demand increased 1.3 percent in September, marking the largest monthly advance since March 2022. Final demand prices moved up 0.5 percent in August and 0.2 percent in July. On an unadjusted basis, the index climbed 6.3 percent for the 12 months ended in September, which represents the largest annual increase since December 2022. Prices for final demand goods jumped 2.6 percent, driven largely by a 10.8-percent surge in energy prices. Gasoline prices alone accounted for half of the goods increase with a 20.3-percent jump, while diesel fuel, jet fuel, and crude petroleum also advanced. Conversely, chicken eggs dropped 39.7 percent. Final demand services rose 0.8 percent, led by a 1.4-percent increase in trade service margins. Machinery and vehicle wholesaling margins advanced 3.9 percent, contributing over 20 percent of the services increase, while automotive fuels and lubricants retailing fell 30.3 percent. Prices for final demand less foods, energy, and trade services moved up 0.5 percent in September after a 0.3-percent increase in August, bringing its 12-month unadjusted rise to 5.0 percent.

Bls Gov

The European Commission approved Kimberly-Clark Corporation's 40 billion dollar acquisition of Kenvue after the buyer offered structural concessions to clear antitrust hurdles. Kimberly-Clark will divest its entire portfolio of feminine hygiene and tampon brands across the European Economic Area, addressing competition concerns in the Czech Republic, Estonia and Slovakia. The remedies cover brands including Kotex with its Lidie sub-brand, Camelia and Record. Turkey-based distributor Dilek Gida Uretim secured approval from the Commission to acquire the divested assets. The European competition enforcer cleared the transaction under the Merger Regulation after market-testing the remedy proposals. Kenvue recently reported second-quarter adjusted profit of 31 cents per share, missing the average analyst estimate of 32 cents compiled by LSEG. Adjusted gross margins at the Tylenol and Neutrogena maker contracted to 60.2 percent from 60.9 percent in the prior-period comparison, pressured by inflation, tariffs and currency headwinds.

Esmmagazine

US consumer prices rose 0.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in September, pushing the annual inflation rate to 3.7 percent. That figure compares with a 3.4 percent annual increase reported for the 12 months ending in August and outpaced economists' forecasts. Surging energy costs drove the increase, with gasoline prices jumping 9.1 percent in September alone and accounting for over half of the monthly all items rise. Over the 12-year - make that 12-month - period, overall energy inflation climbed 20.4 percent, fueled by Middle East energy disruptions. Food inflation remained subdued, holding flat over the month and rising 2.5 percent across the year. Core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.3 percent for the month and 2.6 percent annually, compared with 2.4 percent in August. The hotter-than-expected reading immediately shifted financial market pricing for the Federal Reserve's upcoming policy meeting. Futures traders raised the implied odds of a rate hike when the Federal Open Market Committee meets on October 27 and 28.

Bls Gov

Thoma Bravo-owned Proofpoint is buying Varonis Systems in an all-cash transaction valued at about $6.3 billion, CNA reported. Under the terms, Varonis shareholders will receive $49.75 per share in cash, representing a 52 per cent premium to the closing share price on June 22. The offer values the equity of Varonis at $5.71 billion, with the transaction expected to close in the first half of 2027. Varonis provides digital security services, including employee behavior tracking and data classification on cloud storage systems. Proofpoint was previously acquired by Thoma Bravo in 2021 through a take-private deal valued at approximately $12.3 billion. Goldman Sachs & Co acted as financial adviser to Varonis, while BofA Securities, Morgan Stanley & Co, J.P. Morgan Securities, UBS Securities, and Mizuho Securities USA advised Proofpoint. Varonis stated it will release third-quarter financial results on November 3 without hosting an earnings conference call.

Channelnewsasia

KFC is ending its decades-long U.S. beverage partnership with PepsiCo to switch its domestic fountain pouring rights to The Coca-Cola Company. The transition begins in January 2027, with full availability across all 3,718 U.S. restaurants expected by the spring of that year. PepsiCo has supplied KFC since 1986, when it bought the chicken chain before spinning it off into Yum Brands. PepsiCo will still supply Taco Bell and many KFC International markets. Shares of PepsiCo slipped 0.7% on Thursday following the announcement. Yum Brands shares advanced 2.7%, while Coca-Cola edged up 0.2%. The shift forms part of KFC's Kentucky Fried Comeback strategy to update its menu and attract diners who have gravitated toward rivals like Chick-fil-A and Popeyes. Coca-Cola and PepsiCo remain fierce rivals in the global beverage market, with Coca-Cola holding an edge in recent sales performance and organic volume growth.

Cnbc

The Senate Leadership Fund raised a record $272.9 million from July through September, powered by $158 million from Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, according to a Federal Election Commission filing published Thursday and reported by CNBC. Musk supplied the bulk of that money through an affiliated Texas PAC created to support Republican Ken Paxton, making his two contributions of $75 million and $83 million among the largest political donations ever. The Republican super PAC entered the final weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm election with more than $155 million in cash. The haul shattered the group's previous third-quarter records of nearly $116 million in 2024 and $111 million in 2022. Musk's contribution alone exceeded the Democratic Senate Majority PAC's entire third-quarter fundraising of $151 million. The rival Democratic super PAC ended September with $111.8 million in cash. The record influx gives Republicans a financial cushion as they fight to preserve their 53-seat Senate majority. The Senate Leadership Fund paused additional advertising in North Carolina after spending more than $30 million there and redirected resources toward Kansas, where Republican Sen. Roger Marshall faces a competitive challenge from Democrat Adam Hamilton. In Nebraska, the super PAC has committed $15 million to defend Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts, including $7 million through the affiliated Cornhusker Majority. Republican groups spent roughly $122 million in Texas in September alone and had another $66 million in advertising reserved through Election Day, while Democratic challenger James Talarico announced he raised $64 million in the third quarter.

Cnbc

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said she is minded to intervene in Sky's £1.6bn acquisition of ITV's media and entertainment division. The proposed deal combines Britain's largest pay-TV operator with its largest commercial free-to-air broadcaster, including ITV's terrestrial channels and the ITVX streaming service. Nandy warned that the tie-up could affect free expression in the media and reduce the variety of the UK news landscape. She is considering issuing a public interest intervention notice to force an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority. The regulatory review would examine potential impacts on plurality, regional news access, and broadcasting diversity across the UK nations. Sky and ITV announced the transaction in July, though the deal excludes ITV's production arm, ITV Studios. Sky said it would carefully consider the letter and engage constructively with the review.

Bbc

Sega removed Total War: Shogun 2 - Complete Edition from digital storefronts following a disastrous launch plagued by bugs and suspected artificial intelligence upscaling, according to The Verge. The remaster of the 2011 strategy game launched on Tuesday with bundled DLC and promised features including improved visuals, modernized controls, and 1440p and 4K user interface scaling. Users quickly flooded Steam with complaints, driving the title to an Overwhelmingly Negative rating and prompting the removal. Sega and developer Creative Assembly acknowledged in a joint post that the release fell short of expectations and standards. The companies plan to reinstate the original version of the game while existing owners retain access to the Complete Edition. Mataboo is listed on Steam as a development partner working alongside the studios to identify the causes of the technical problems.

Theverge

Apple and Meta revealed a partnership Thursday enabling developers to run Meta's 816-billion-parameter Muse Spark Open model locally on Mac Studio computers, CNBC reported. The collaboration requires users to pair between two and four Mac Studio PCs equipped with M5 Ultra chips and up to 512GB of RAM. Running the model locally instead of in the cloud adds security and saves users money, according to the companies. A Mac Studio setup with the required M5 Ultra chip and 256GB of memory costs at least $10,799, with a 512GB version scheduled for release later this month. Meta estimated in early 2022 that Apple privacy changes introduced the previous year cut its revenue by $10 billion. Meta invested more than $14 billion into Scale AI last year, bringing in Alexandr Wang as AI chief. Apple sued OpenAI in July, alleging trade secret theft. Developers can download the AI model from websites like Hugging Face without extra configuration for Apple silicon. Meta's Superintelligence team bought hundreds of Mac computers earlier this year to experiment with local AI and agents.

Cnbc

SpaceX has requested federal permission to launch its Starship megarocket up to 456 times per year from its Starbase site in South Texas, marking a significant escalation from the currently authorized cadence of 25 annual flights. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration announced its intent to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and open a public scoping period to review the proposal. Each operational launch would also include two landings as both vehicle stages return to the pad for retrieval by mechanical arms, bringing the requested total to 912 annual landings in South Texas. SpaceX plans to scale this flight rate in two phases, with Phase 1 covering up to 100 annual launches and 200 landings at any time, while Phase 2 reaches the maximum cadence restricted to weekdays. The expanded operations are designed to support deployment for the next-generation Starlink V3 broadband constellation, which will eventually comprise 100,000 spacecraft. The FAA will hold five public scoping meetings next month, including four in-person sessions in the Starbase area and one virtual meeting.

Space