On Friday, all three major indexes closed lower.
Rising oil prices continued to weigh on the stock market, and U.S. President Trump stated that the United States might soon end its war with Iran.
He claimed that the U.S. has the ability to control all of Iran's oil resources, is currently shipping out needed oil, and said the Strait of Hormuz is "completely under my control," adding that the U.S. even has the capability to take over the entire country.
Additionally, Trump revealed that the U.S. is close to reaching a trade agreement with Mexico, and Canada is also actively seeking a deal with the United States.
U.S. Stocks
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 652.82 points, or 1.23%, to 52,215.16, with a weekly gain of 0.41%.
The S&P 500 dropped 39.75 points, or 0.52%, to 7,623.68, posting a weekly decline of 0.47%.
The Nasdaq fell 53.51 points, or 0.21%, to 25,955.34, recording a weekly loss of 0.71%.
Western Digital (WDC.US) dropped 2.97%, Google (GOOG.US) fell 1.24%, SanDisk (SNDK.US) lost 1.82%, Meta Platforms (META.US) declined 0.96%, and Apple (AAPL.US) slipped 0.14%.
Meanwhile, SK Hynix (SKHY.US) rose 4.05%, and Micron Technology (MU.US) gained 2.46%.
The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index fell 0.84%.
European Stocks
Germany's DAX 30 fell 201.19 points, or 0.79%, to 25,170.56.
The UK's FTSE 100 dropped 42.69 points, or 0.40%, to 10,682.34.
France's CAC 40 declined 28.44 points, or 0.36%, to 7,782.82.
The Euro Stoxx 50 fell 21.86 points, or 0.36%, to 6,065.15.
Spain's IBEX 35 rose 80.82 points, or 0.43%, to 18,994.32.
Italy's FTSE MIB gained 160.84 points, or 0.33%, to 48,544.50.
Forex
The U.S. Dollar Index rose on the 23rd.
The index, which measures the dollar against six major currencies, gained 0.2% and closed at 101.811 in late foreign exchange trading.
As of late New York trading, 1 euro exchanged for 1.1193 dollars, down from 1.1220 dollars the previous trading day.
1 pound exchanged for 1.3371 dollars, down from 1.3400 dollars the previous session.
1 dollar exchanged for 156.87 yen, up from 156.78 yen the prior day.
1 dollar exchanged for 0.8252 Swiss francs, up from 0.8205 Swiss francs.
1 dollar exchanged for 1.4004 Canadian dollars, down from 1.4008 Canadian dollars.
1 dollar exchanged for 9.9424 Swedish kronor, up from 9.9079 Swedish kronor.
In the week ending October 20, leveraged funds increased their net short positions in the euro by 1,305 contracts to 94,100, the highest level since March 2020, equivalent to bearish bets of about 11.8 billion euros.
Political turmoil in France, debt pressures, and escalating protests have heightened market concerns, dragging down the euro.
Investors are also worried about slowing economic growth in Europe, limited room for the European Central Bank to raise rates, and the potential for further widening of the interest rate differential between Europe and the U.S.
The euro weakened again against the dollar this week, falling 0.4% cumulatively.
Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin edged lower, trading at $81,234.67 as of press time.
Ethereum rose slightly by 0.56% to $2,395.73.
Precious Metals
Spot gold fell 0.71%, breaking below the $4,000 mark to $3,997.08 per ounce.
Spot silver dropped over 1% to $53.936 per ounce.
Crude Oil
At the close, December-delivery light crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $3.80 to $103.27 per barrel, a gain of 3.82%.
December-delivery Brent crude futures in London rose $3.55 to $116.72 per barrel, up 3.14%.
Macro News
The Trump administration removed 50% tariffs on certain Canadian goods while imposing new tariffs on other products.
According to reports, the U.S. government announced on Friday that it would exempt certain Canadian imports from the 50% tariff, including blueberries, potatoes, apples, seaweed, as well as plastic crates, packaging materials, refrigeration equipment, and packaging machinery.
These tariffs had been implemented after U.S.-Canada trade talks broke down in late August.
The White House simultaneously imposed tariffs on certain valves, carpets, and waste products to offset some of the tax reductions.
Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine said she secured new tariff exemptions for the local agricultural industry.
Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson criticized Trump's trade war for raising living costs for Maine residents, noting that Collins previously supported related policies but is now trying to win voter support through tariff relief.
This move comes just before the U.S. midterm elections on November 3.
Polls show Democrats are expected to win majorities in both the House and Senate, and Republican candidates in states like Michigan have begun publicly calling for an end to the trade war with Canada.
The White House said the adjustment aims to further clarify the scope of tariffs on Canada.
U.S. consumer confidence fell to a five-month low due to inflation concerns.
In October, the U.S. consumer confidence index edged down to its lowest level in five months due to rising prices and interest rates.
According to a survey report released Friday, the final reading of the University of Michigan's consumer confidence index fell to 48 from 48.1 in September.
Nevertheless, the figure still beat the preliminary reading and exceeded economists' expectations.
Consumers expect prices to rise 4.7% over the next year, up from last month's forecast of 4.6%.
They also expect costs to grow at an annual rate of 3.5% over the next five to ten years.
Both figures are the highest since May.
Joanne Hsu, the survey's director, said: "After inflation has exceeded the target level for five consecutive years, both short-term and long-term inflation expectations have risen in recent months, exposing the risk that elevated inflation expectations may become entrenched."
She also said: "Consumers across all political affiliations agree that inflation poses a far greater risk to the economy over the next year than unemployment."
The U.S. economy remained robust at the start of the fourth quarter.
Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: "The preliminary PMI data for October show that the U.S. economy continued to flourish at the start of the fourth quarter. The survey's output data are consistent with a trend of 5% annualized GDP growth, following an estimated 4% growth in the third quarter. Corporate earnings and profits were particularly strong, and hiring activity increased significantly as businesses expanded capacity to meet stronger customer demand. Excluding the post-pandemic economic restart, the growth achieved by U.S. businesses in recent months is the best since early 2015. However, cost pressures remain a major concern, especially as crude oil prices have risen again, affecting various goods and services. Meanwhile, supply chain bottlenecks have intensified, and backlogs of orders are rising, making it easier for businesses to pass on higher costs to consumers. As a result, selling prices saw the sharpest increase in four years, a trend that currently suggests consumer price inflation could further exceed the Federal Reserve's target in the coming months."
Canada's retail sales rebound is expected to continue in September.
Canadian retail spending is expected to continue growing in September, though the pace may slow from August.
Preliminary data from Statistics Canada showed that retail sales rose 0.7% year-over-year in September.
Previously, retail sales grew 1.2% in August, driven by growth in all nine subsectors.
Sales by volume also rebounded in August, rising 1.2%.
Given the escalation of the trade war with the U.S. in September, economists had warned that the August rebound might be temporary.
Canada's economy appears to have emerged from the tariff-induced slump in the second quarter, but GDP growth flattened in July and August.
The retail data is the last clue on the state of Canada's economy available to Bank of Canada policymakers before next week's rate decision.
Over the past week, several traders and economists have changed their positions and are now betting on a rate hike.
Overnight swap market traders pushed the probability of a rate hike at next week's meeting to over 80%.
Individual Stock News
Media: SpaceX and Tesla merger could face antitrust review.
According to reports, Musk proposed a merger between Tesla (TSLA.US) and SpaceX (SPCX.US) this week, and a former Justice Department official said the risk of antitrust issues is real.
The official noted that antitrust regulators view such "vertical" mergers as pro-competitive because they help improve supply chain efficiency.
However, if the Tesla-SpaceX deal is deemed a potential "vertical exclusive" merger, regulators might seek to block it.
The official explained that an "exclusive" scenario involves a company using its position to restrict competitors at other levels of its supply chain.
In this case, if only Tesla vehicles could use SpaceX's Starlink and other technologies in the future, other autonomous driving or electric vehicle manufacturers could be harmed.
Of course, this depends on the terms of the currently hypothetical deal.
It also depends on how willing U.S. antitrust enforcement agencies, aligned with Trump, are to clash with Musk, a major Republican donor.
Even so, if Democrats retake control of the House next month, Musk will face congressional investigation, and lawmakers will closely scrutinize any attempt to merge his companies.
Major Bank Ratings
UBS Group: Raised the target price for Blackstone Group (BX.US) from $116 to $118.
Raised the target price for Lockheed Martin (LMT.US) from $653 to $692.
Mizuho Bank: Lowered the target price for Western Digital (WDC.US) from $590 to $490.
Raised the target price for Meta Platforms (META.US) from $750 to $950.
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