Today's news headlines:

‘US Senate in balance in close midterms election battle’. Republicans insist they are on course to take back at least the House of Representatives after a string of crucial victories saw them edge closer to the 218 seats needed for a majority, albeit by a much finer margin than they had hoped for. Perpetual battleground states such as Nevada and Arizona could be the key to deciding the control of the US Senate, as ballots continue to be counted across the country. As the White House prepares for heavy losses in the House, Republican leaders have suggested they will use the debt ceiling as leverage to force their own policies through such cuts to federal spending. (Financial Times)

‘Meta cuts 11,000 staff in largest cull in company’s history’. An economic slowdown coupled with falling revenues and rising competition has hammered Big Tech groups this year, none more so than the social metaverse company Meta which has had to reduce its workforce by 13% and cut its headcount by 11,000. Growth experienced during the pandemic was not sustained as the world eased back to normality, and Meta shares have taken a 71.5% hit in the year to date. Along with increasing competition from rivals such as TikTok, Apple’s changes to its privacy policy have made it harder for Meta to measure and target advertising to consumers, contributing further to declining revenues (Financial Times)

Today

Following talks from policymakers, all eyes will turn to the US inflation data release this afternoon which is forecast to show the annual pace slow from 8.2% down to 7.9%. Despite the annual deceleration, the Consumer Price Index is expected to have risen by another 0.6% over the month of October, up from 0.4% the month previous, reinforcing the Federal Reserve’s agenda to push ahead with its tightening campaign.

Events

MPC Member David Ramsden speaks: 1:00PM
MPC Member Silvano Tenreyro speaks: 1:10PM
US CPI y/y: 1:30PM
US Unemployment Claims: 1:30PM
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem speaks: 4:50PM

Interbank rates*:

GBP/USD: 1.1385
GBP/EUR: 1.1375
EUR/USD: 1.0010
USD/CAD: 1.3545

 

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*Indicative interbank rates taken on the day of writing. Please speak to your Dealer to find out the current rates available for you.