Well that's all from us today, thanks for following along. Be sure to join us again next week for more of the latest markets news and all that's happening across the global economy...

Earnings releases from tech companies are set to be the main focus in the coming weeks, but there are also a number of major companies in other sectors due to report.

Five of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ tech behemoths are scheduled to report in the week ahead — Alphabet (GOOG), Meta (META), Microsoft (MSFT), Amazon (AMZN) and Apple (AAPL).

However, they won’t be the only companies drawing focus in markets next week.

Oil majors BP and Shell's recent updates guided to weaker performance in the third quarter, so investors will be looking for more details in the full results.

Shareholders in ride-hailing Uber will also be keeping a close eye on its latest results, for any further information on reports that the company had explored a potential bid on Expedia (EXPE).

HSBC is another major bank due to report, fresh off the news that the company was overhauling its structure.

And while struggling chipmaker Intel has already warned investors of weak performance in the third quarter, markets will be watching out for any surprises to upside for the company.

Have a good weekend!

US consumer confidence rose in October to 70.5, up from September’s 70.1, as traders look to the presidential election.

According to the latest University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment, it was the third monthly rise in a row, taking confidence to its highest since April.

The increase this month was mainly due to slight improvements in buying conditions for durables, in part due to easing interest rates.

Joanne Hsu, surveys of consumers director, said:

UK fizzy wine maker Chapel Down (CDGP.L) has been hit by the wet summer this year, it said on Friday.

It now expects its 2024 harvest to be approximately 1,875 tonnes, just half the 3,811 tonnes achieved last year.

However, growing conditions started well this year, with no frost damage during early spring, and fine, warm weather during flowering.

Sparkling wine sales had improved in the third quarter of the year, with stockholdings in the off-trade returning “to normal levels”, Chapel Down said. However there remained “some ongoing pressure on rate of sale in the off-trade”, it added.

Sales revenue net of retro fell by 11%, to ￡7.1m in the first six months, led by a 36% decline in off-trade sales. Gross profits were down 22% to ￡3.4m, while profit before tax was down 98% to just ￡40,000.

It comes as Andrew Carter is set to depart from the helm early next year to join Yorkshire brewer Timothy Taylor’s.

Ahead of her inaugural autumn budget, chancellor Rachel Reeves is facing intense scrutiny over Labour’s tax policies, having promised during the election campaign not to increase taxes on "working people." The party vowed not to raise VAT, income tax, or national insurance (NI) contributions for employees, but speculation is mounting over potential tax changes in other areas.

While the party has promised not to increase VAT, income tax, or employee NI contributions, there are concerns about how Reeves will address the ￡22bn budget deficit, potentially through tax hikes in other areas.

Reeves told ministers that filling the "￡22bn black hole inheritance from the previous government" would only be enough "to keep public services standing still". The chancellor is drawing up plans to find ￡40bn to avoid real-terms cuts to departments, as first reported in the Financial Times.

Reeves has warned there would be "difficult decisions on spending, welfare, and tax" to come in her budget.

Here’s a roundup of what UK households should be on the lookout for, and how this could affect them.

The Bank of Russia has hiked interest rates from 19% to 21%, more than markets expected in a bid to tame soaring inflation.

The central bank announced it was lifting its key rate by two full percentage points, higher than most predictions for a one point increase.

It comes as inflation surged to 13.4% in the country in October, up from 12.5% the previous month, amid Putin’s war with Ukraine.

The Bank of Russia said:

The Office for National Statistics revealed on Friday that the number of businesses created in the UK in the three months to September was 3.7% lower than in the previous quarter.

There was a decrease in creations in 13 out of 16 main industrial groups, with the most significant decreases coming from the construction, and transport and storage industries.

Meanwhile, business closures fell by 4.2% year-on-year.

Electric carmaker Tesla (TSLA) had its best day on the market in over a decade on Thursday, on the back of the company's surprisingly solid results.

Shares ended Thursday's session up nearly 23%, giving Tesla a market valuation of $836bn (￡644bn). CEO Elon Musk's net worth jumped by $33.5bn, widening his lead as the world's richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Tesla kicked off "Magnificent Seven" earnings on Wednesday, posting beats on adjusted earnings per share and higher gross margins.

Adjusted earnings per share of $0.72, was ahead of an anticipated $0.60, on adjusted net income of $2.5bn and free cash flow of $2.9bn.

Tesla's closely-watched gross margin figure came in at 19.8%, much higher than the 16.8% expected.

In addition, Tesla said that preparations remained underway for launches of its more affordable models in the first half of next year.

Musk also said in an earnings call that Tesla's volume growth could be between 20% and 30% next year.

See what else is trending here

The pound is on track for its fourth weekly loss in a row amid uncertainty about the upcoming autumn budget.

Investor sentiment is muted after it was reported that chancellor Rachel Reeves planned to change debt rules to allow her to spend an extra ￡50bn on infrastructure.

Sterling was last up 0.1% today but is on track to decline around 0.5% over the course of the week.

The pound was also 0.1% higher against the euro, worth 83.4p.

It comes amid expectations that the Bank of England (BoE) will step up the pace of interest rate cuts, as well as increasing bets that the European Central Bank will hike rate cuts in the face of a weakening eurozone economy.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said:

As we head into the afternoon, here's what's been happening in equity markets this morning...

• NatWest (NWG.L) jumped to the top of the FTSE 100 as it raised its full-year income forecasts after a strong third quarter, in which profits jumped by 34.6% on last year.

• Profit for the three months to 30 September totalled ￡1.24bn, up from ￡924m, as total income rose 7.3% to ￡3.49bn.

• The banking group said it now expects to achieve a return on tangible equity above 15%, up one percentage point on previous guidance, while adjusted income should come in at ￡14.4bn, compared with an earlier forecast of ￡14bn.

• Airtel Africa (AAF.L) slumped as it reported a 16.5% drop in first-half earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.

• SSE (SSE.L) was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'sell' at Citi. The bank said: "SSE has an attractive set of networks and renewable assets. However, we are increasingly concerned around the deployment of its offshore wind fleet and see risks of further delays, which could impact EPS and/or returns."

The Ifo institute said on Friday that its business climate index increased to 86.5 in October, up from 85.4 last month.

The figures were better than expected as analysts polled by Reuters had expected a reading of 85.6.

James Moberly, an analyst at Goldman Sachs (GS), has predicted that chancellor Rachel Reeves will announce higher spending in next week’s budget.

In a research note, he said:

A total of 883 venture capital (VC) funding deals with total disclosed funding value of $8.3bn were announced in India during January to September.

This marks a year-on-year improvement of 7.3% in deal volume, while the growth in funding value stood massively high at 50.4%, according to GlobalData.

The report revealed that India witnessed announcement of a total of 823 VC deals during Q1-Q3 2023 whereas the total disclosed funding value of these deals stood at $5.5bn.

Aurojyoti Bose, lead analyst at GlobalData, said:

Crude oil prices nudged higher on Friday, setting up Brent crude (BZ=F) and US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) (CL=F) for a weekly gain of over 1% amid renewed tensions in the Middle East and the prospect of resumed ceasefire talks in Gaza.

Brent crude futures rose by 0.3%, trading at $74.62 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 0.4%, reaching $70.49 per barrel during early European trading.

"We maintain our view that crude oil’s fair value is around $70 per barrel, where WTI is currently hovering, as we await new price catalysts," said IG market analyst Tony Sycamore. He added that key factors include upcoming deliberations by China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee, as well as any response from Israel following Iran’s missile attack on 1 October.

Market sentiment remains sensitive to possible disruptions; any retaliation from Israel could target Iran’s military assets, but current reports suggest that Iranian nuclear and oil infrastructure would likely remain untouched.

Thames Water has secured a loan of up to ￡3bn, giving the beleaguered firm a lifeline until October 2025.

People close to the deal told the BBC that an agreement was signed on Thursday evening to secure the company's future.

Thames Water's mounting debts, worth around ￡16bn, have led to speculation it could be taken over by the government.

Currently one in four people in the UK rely on Thames for their supply and its customers are facing a steep rise in bills.

The BBC reported that there are up to six parties interested in taking a stake in Thames Water.

Chris Weston, chief executive of Thames, said that the new loan has put the firm "onto a more stable financial footing as we seek a long-term solution to our financial resilience".

NatWest (NWG.L) reported a 25% increase in profits to ￡1.67bn ($2.16bn) in the three months to September and upgraded its outlook, buoyed by increased lending and a focus on operational efficiency.

The taxpayer-supported bank revised its income outlook to ￡14.4bn, up from ￡14bn, and increased its return on tangible equity target from 14% to 15%.

Operating profits surged to ￡1.6bn for the quarter, reflecting a 25.7% increase year-on-year and surpassing analyst predictions, which had anticipated profits of less than ￡1.5bn.

This was driven by net interest income — the difference what banks earns on loans and pays out on customer deposits and a key profit driver for retail banks — which came in at a better-than-expected ￡2.90bn.

Net income reached ￡1.2bn, significantly exceeding forecasts that estimated it would fall below ￡1bn. Other operating expenses declined by ￡144m compared to the second quarter.

Read the full article here

Mercedes-Benz (MBG.DE) has revealed that third-quarter earnings in the core car division plunged by 64%, warning that Chinese consumers are extremely cautious about making big purchases.

The figures massively missed analysts' estimates, with earnings hit by model revamp costs as well as a tough market (especially for new versions of the G-Class SUV, which will roll out in the next quarter).

"The Q3 results do not meet our ambitions," Harald Wilhelm, chief executive officer, said in a statement. He added that the group will step up cost cuts.

The group now sees annual car sales slightly below the previous year, and fourth-quarter sales in line with the third quarter.

Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes in the car unit dropped to €1.2bn compared to LSEG's mean estimate of a 3.6% drop to €3.19bn.

Consumer confidence in the UK declined again in October, taking the score back down to the level last seen in March this year.

According to the latest figures from GfK on Friday, the overall index score slipped one point to -21 this month. Three measures declined and two rose compared with September’s announcement, it said.

The index measuring changes in personal finances during the last year was down one point at -10; but came in nine points better than October 2023, while the forecast for personal finances over the year was up one point at -2, six points higher than this time last year.

The report also revealed that the measure for the general economic situation of the country during the last year was down five points at -42; some 12 points higher than in October 2023.

Meanwhile, expectations for the general economic situation over the next 12 months declined on point at -28; this was four points better than a year ago.

The major purchase index rose two points to -21 (13 points higher) while the savings index rose four points to +27; this was two points higher than October last year.

With the autumn budget just a few days away, these figures are likely to be particularly scrutinised by analysts.

Neil Bellamy, consumer insights director at GfK, said:

Stocks in Asia were mostly higher overnight, aside from in Japan, where investors were awaiting the outcome of an election on Sunday.

The Nikkei (^N225) slipped 0.6% on the day in Japan, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) rose 0.5% in Hong Kong and the Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was 0.4% up by the end of the session.

Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba, who took office just weeks ago, called the snap general election to drum up support as the ruling Liberal Democrats grapple with a political funding scandal.

Recent upheavals have added to uncertainty for markets, complicating the Bank of Japan’s efforts to shift away from long-standing near-zero interest rates.

Core inflation in Japan’s capital came in at 1.8% in October, lower than the central bank’s 2% target for the first time in five months. This reinforced expectations that the central bank will keep its key interest rate unchanged at a policy meeting next week.

Meanwhile, China’s central bank kept its medium-term lending rate unchanged at 2%. It also issued 700 billion yuan (￡75.8bn) in one-year medium-term lending facility loans to financial institutions, according to the bank’s statement.

Across the pond on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.3% to 42,374.36, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.2% to 5,809.86 and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) advanced 0.8% to 18,415.49.

In the bond market, the yield on 10-year US Treasury notes dipped to 4.217% from 4.231% late on Wednesday. It has risen from 3.623% on 16 September.

The yield has been rising in recent weeks partly because both candidates in the US presidential election are keen on spending money, which will widen the deficit, according to Mark Malek, chief investment officer at SiebertNXT in New York.

Good morning, and welcome back to our markets live blog. As usual we will be taking a deep dive into what's moving markets, and all that's happening across the global economy.

Here's a quick look at what's on the agenda for today:

• 7am: Trading updates: Petra Diamonds

• 9am: Eurozone consumer inflation expectations

• 9am: IFO survey of German business confidence

• 11.30am: Bank of Russia sets interest rates

• 1.30pm: US durable goods orders for September

• 3pm: University of Michigan poll of US consumer confidence