China is limbering up for a massive trade counterattack against the EU after its thriving electric vehicle market took a brutal hit following the European Union's decision to impose substantial additional taxes on all EVs made in China.

With Rio seemingly pursuing Arcadium, Australia’s largest investor, AustralianSuper, has moved to boost its shareholding in Pilbara Minerals.

Crude oil prices jumped again on Friday, bringing the weekly gain to around 8%. Oil has been pushed higher due to the intensifying conflict in the Middle East following Iran's response to Israeli attacks.

China has not made any gold purchases for the fifth consecutive month, as the surge in gold prices to new record highs has kept the world’s largest investor on the sidelines.

One of Warren Buffett’s smartest plays has been to make bond issues in the Japanese yen market and then effectively hedge those proceeds by investing in the shares of the country’s five major trading houses — Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Itochu, Sumitomo and Marubeni.

Even though its quarterly car sales fell short of expectations, Tesla managed to maintain its lead as the leading producer of pure electric vehicles powered by batteries.

The new car market experienced a crunch in September, with sales slumping 12.4% to 97,020 units compared to the same month in 2023, and down around 1% from August.

Tesla may have delivered 462,890 EVs in the three months leading up to last Sunday, but this fell short of forecasts, causing shares to drop by 6% at one point on Wednesday.

The Hong Kong share market surged to a 20-month high on Wednesday as the rally ignited by last week’s stimulus measures from Beijing continued to lift Chinese stocks. Can this momentum sustain big gains today and tomorrow?

The slipping pace of activity across the EU has already seen the European Central Bank cut rates twice this year. Now more cuts are on the cards after the flash inflation figure for September came in under the 2% target.

Saudi Arabia (and Russia for the moment) would be enjoying the hikes in world oil prices due to the deepening crisis between Israel, Lebanon, and the Palestinians. However, this joy will be temporary because forecasts released this week reveal rising pressures on spending and a worsening budget position.

Now this is a bit of a surprise — Australian retail sales jumped sharply in August, but shoppers are supposed to have been put to sleep by high interest rates and pressure on household incomes.

The volatile building approvals data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics has again delivered — instead of a large rise, as we had in July, we got a big fall in August.

The end-of-month activity surveys for Chinese manufacturing produced slightly different outcomes for September.

Chile’s Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (SQM), the world’s second-largest lithium miner after Albemarle, is looking to spin off its foreign lithium and other assets into a separate company with foreign investor participation.

In a potential blow for the African-focused gold group Perseus Mining (ASX:PRU), its newly acquired gold mining prospect in Tanzania faces an obstacle from a new rule that could see a 20% cut in free market sales of the precious metal.

It’s back to the Land of the Long White Cow—sorry, Cloud—for the world’s biggest dairy group, Fonterra, which has just revealed a New Zealand-first strategy for the coming years.

Profit pressures continue in the global car industry, with the French-Italian-US group Stellantis and Aston Martin both joining the growing chorus of earnings downgrades on Monday.

The Rupert Murdoch-backed REA Group has been forced to abandon its attempt to take over the UK website Rightmove after its fourth offer was rejected on Monday.

Contrasting performances were seen in Asia’s two major stock markets: China and Japan.

Another massive surge in iron ore prices occurred on Monday, bringing the total gain since China began announcing stimulus measures last Tuesday to over 20%.

China continues to roll out more stimulus measures, with a slew of actions announced at national and local government levels on Sunday evening to help mortgage holders and property companies.

A significant loss for its latest financial year didn’t come as a surprise as Kiwi dairy group Synlait prepares for life after what was nearly a death experience a couple of months ago.

Iron ore prices hit a two-month high at Friday's close, driven by China's steady rollout of stimulus measures that boosted interest in the steelmaking mineral.

Gold and silver prices retreated on Friday from record highs but still notched weekly gains, fueled by hopes for a second major rate cut from the Fed. This followed inflation data showing price pressures under control.

Global oil prices posted a weekly loss by Friday’s close, as fears of growing oil supplies from Saudi Arabia overshadowed China’s efforts to stimulate its economy.

US investors largely ignored the roaring comeback in Chinese and other Asian markets on Friday.

The first week of the new month and the new quarter begins tomorrow, bringing new data releases, speculation on interest rates, more challenges for companies like Star Entertainment, growing concerns about the Middle East, and, of course, the final month before the November elections in the U.S.