Overnight US stocks | The three major indices closed lower; Western Digital Corporation (WDC.US) fell nearly 3%; spot gold broke below the $4,000 mark.

Friday, the three major indices closed lower. Rising oil prices continued to pressure the stock market, and U.S. President Trump latest said the United States may soon end the war against Iran. He claimed that the United States has the ability to control all of Iran's oil resources and is currently shipping out the oil it needs, and said the Strait of Hormuz is "completely under my control," and that the United States even has the ability to take over all of Iran. In addition, Trump also disclosed that the United States is close to reaching a trade agreement with Mexico, and Canada is also actively seeking an agreement with the United States. [U.S. stocks] As of the close, the Dow fell 652.82 points, or 1.23%, to 52,215.16, up 0.41% for the week; the S&P 500 fell 39.75 points, or 0.52%, to 7,623.68, down 0.47% for the week; the Nasdaq fell 53.51 points, or 0.21%, to 25,955.34, down 0.71% for the week. Western Digital Corporation (WDC.US) fell 2.97%, Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG.US) fell 1.24%, SanDisk (SNDK.US) fell 1.82%, Meta Platforms (META.US) fell 0.96%, Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) fell 0.14%; SK Hynix (SKHY.US) rose 4.05%, Micron Technology, Inc. (MU.US) rose 2.46%. The Nasdaq China Golden Dragon Index fell 0.84%. [European stocks] Germany's DAX30 index fell 201.19 points, or 0.79%, to 25,170.56; the UK's FTSE 100 fell 42.69 points, or 0.40%, to 10,682.34; France's CAC40 fell 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 IBEX35 rose 80.82 points, or 0.43%, to 18,994.32; Italy's FTSE MIB rose 160.84 points, or 0.33%, to 48,544.50. [Forex] The dollar index rose on the 23rd. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, rose 0.2% on the day and closed at 101.811 in late foreign exchange trading. As of late trading in New York, 1 euro traded at $1.1193, below $1.1220 the previous trading day; 1 pound traded at $1.3371, below $1.3400 the previous trading day. 1 dollar traded at 156.87 yen, above 156.78 yen the previous trading day; 1 dollar traded at 0.8252 Swiss francs, above 0.8205 Swiss francs the previous trading day; 1 dollar traded at 1.4004 Canadian dollars, below 1.4008 Canadian dollars the previous trading day; 1 dollar traded at 9.9424 Swedish kronor, above 9.9079 Swedish kronor the previous trading day. In the week ended Oct. 20, net short euro positions held by leveraged funds increased by 1,305 contracts to 94,100 contracts, the highest level since March 2020, equivalent to about 11.8 billion euros in bearish bets. Political turmoil in France, debt pressure and protests intensified market concerns and weighed on the euro. Investors are also worried about slowing European economic growth, limited room for the European Central Bank to raise rates, and a possible further widening of the interest rate differential between Europe and the United States. The euro weakened again against the dollar this week, falling 0.4% cumulatively. [Cryptocurrencies] Bitcoin edged lower, at $81,234.67 as of press time; Ethereum edged up 0.56% to $2,395.73. [Precious metals] Spot gold fell 0.71% and broke below the $4,000 mark, at $3,997.08/oz; spot silver fell more than 1% to $53.936/oz. [Crude oil] As of the close, December-delivery light crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $3.80 to settle at $103.27 per barrel, up 3.82%; December-delivery London Brent crude futures rose $3.55 to settle at $116.72 per barrel, up 3.14%. [Macro news] Trump administration removes 50% tariffs on some Canadian goods while raising duties on others. According to reports, the U.S. government announced Friday that it would exempt some Canadian imports from 50% tariffs, including blueberries, potatoes, Apple Inc., seaweed, as well as plastic crates, packaging materials, refrigeration equipment and packaging machinery. The tariffs had been imposed after U.S.-Canada trade talks broke down in late August. The White House also imposed additional tariffs on some valves, carpets and waste products to offset part of the tax relief. U.S. Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine said she had secured new tariff exemptions for the local agricultural industry. Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson criticized Trump's trade war for raising the cost of living for Maine residents, saying Collins had previously supported related policies and was now trying to win voter support through tariff relief. The move comes just ahead of the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 3. Polls show Democrats are expected to win majorities in both chambers of Congress, and Republican candidates in states such as Michigan have also begun publicly calling for an end to the trade war with Canada. The White House said the adjustment was intended to further clarify the scope of tariffs on Canada. U.S. consumer confidence falls to five-month low on inflation concerns. In October, U.S. consumer confidence edged down to a five-month low due to rising prices and higher interest rates. According to a survey report released Friday, the University of Michigan's final consumer sentiment index fell to 48.0 from 48.1 in September. Even so, the reading was still better than the preliminary reading and above 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 rise at an average annual rate of 3.5% over the next five to ten years. Both figures were the highest since May. Joanne Hsu, director of the survey, said: "After five consecutive years of inflation above target, both short- 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, Inc. Market Intelligence, said: "The preliminary October PMI data show that the U.S. economy continued to boom at the start of the fourth quarter. The survey's output data are consistent with a trend of 5% annualized GDP growth, after an estimated 4% gain in the third quarter. Corporate earnings and profits were particularly strong, and hiring also increased sharply as firms expanded capacity to meet stronger customer demand. Excluding the post-pandemic reopening, U.S. businesses have achieved their best growth in recent months since early 2015. However, cost pressures remain a major concern, especially as crude oil prices have risen again and affected a wide range of goods and services. At the same time, supply chain bottlenecks have intensified and order backlogs have continued to rise, making it easier for firms to pass on higher costs to consumers. As a result, selling prices recorded their sharpest increase in four years, a trend that currently suggests consumer price inflation may 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, although the pace may slow from August. Preliminary data from Statistics Canada showed retail sales rose 0.7% year over year in September. Previously, retail sales rose 1.2% in August, driven by growth in all nine subsectors. August sales by volume also rebounded, rising 1.2%. Given the escalation of the trade war with the United States 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 are the last clue on the state of the Canadian economy available to Bank of Canada policymakers before next week's rate decision. Over the past week, several traders and economists have changed their stance and are now betting on a rate hike. Overnight swap market traders raised the probability of a rate hike at next week's meeting to more than 80%. [Company news] Media: SpaceX merger with Tesla, Inc. may face antitrust review. According to reports, Musk proposed this week a merger of Tesla, Inc. (TSLA.US) and SpaceX (SPCX.US), and a former Justice Department official said the risk of antitrust issues is real. The official noted that antitrust regulators generally view such "vertical" mergers as pro-competitive because they help improve supply chain efficiency; but if a Tesla, Inc.-SpaceX deal were deemed a possible "vertical foreclosure" merger, regulators might seek to block it. The official explained that a "foreclosure" scenario is one in which a company uses its position to restrict competitors at other levels of its supply chain. In this case, if only Tesla, Inc. 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 transaction. It also depends on how willing U.S. antitrust enforcers, who align 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 scrutiny, and lawmakers will also closely examine any attempt by him to merge his companies. [Bank ratings] UBS Group AG: Raised the target price of Blackstone Inc. (BX.US) to $118 from $116; raised the target price of Lockheed Martin Corporation (LMT.US) to $692 from $653. Mizuho Bank: Cut the target price of Western Digital Corporation (WDC.US) to $490 from $590; raised the target price of Meta Platforms (META.US) to $950 from $750.