Israel And Hamas Agree To ‘first Phase’ Of Plan To End Fighting And Release Hostages

Political

Palestinian-Israeli conflict

Summary:

Israel and Hamas have agreed to the "first phase" of his peace plan to pause fighting and release at least some hostages and prisoners.

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he reads a note handed to him by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio he said was regarding Middle East peace talks during a roundtable discussion in the State Dining Room of the White House on Oct. 8, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Israel and Hamas have agreed to the "first phase" of his peace plan to pause fighting and release at least some hostages and prisoners, U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday.

"This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace," Trump wrote. "All Parties will be treated fairly!"

Negotiators have been meeting in Egypt for days to hash out a Trump-backed peace plan that he hopes will ultimately result in a permanent end to the two-year war and bring about a sustainable peace in the region.

The initial agreement was confirmed by Israeli officials and Hamas, as well as mediator Qatar. It was not immediately clear whether the parties had made any progress on thornier questions about the future of the conflict, including whether Hamas will demilitarize, as Trump has demanded, and eventual governance of the war-torn territory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on social media, "With God's help we will bring them all home."

The war began with Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people, many of them civilians. Israel's retaliatory military campaign has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead, devastated Gaza and upended global politics.

Trump said Wednesday that he's considering a trip to the Middle East within a matter of days, a major show of optimism as top officials from the U.S. and Qatar traveled to an Egyptian resort for the third day of ongoing negotiations to end the Israel-Hamas war.

"I may go there sometime toward the end of the week," Trump said from the White House as he opened a roundtable event on a different matter. The trip could occur Sunday, Trump said, adding that "negotiations are going along very well."Yet another hint of a deal came later in that event when U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio passed Trump a note on White House stationery that read, "You need to approve a Truth Social post soon so you can announce deal first." Truth Social is the president's preferred social media platform.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio updates U.S. President Donald Trump on the Gaza proposal during a roundtable on "Antifa," an anti-fascist movement Trump designated a domestic "terrorist organization" via executive order on September 22, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., Oct. 8, 2025.

The note prompted Trump to proclaim, "We're very close to a deal in the Middle East."

The arrival of Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, on Wednesday at Sharm el-Sheikh for the discussions, as well as Qatar's prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, was a sign that negotiators aim to dive deeply into the toughest issues of an American plan to end the war in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's top adviser, Ron Dermer, is also present for the talks.

Hamas says it's seeking firm guarantees from mediators that Israel won't resume its military campaign in the Palestinian territory after the militant group releases all the remaining hostages.

Source: CNBC

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Manuel

Economic

Political

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi will celebrate their countries' deepening commercial ties on Thursday with an announcement of further Indian investment into the UK and a meeting between the two.

Starmer's office said he would use the second and final day of a trip to India to discuss a recently-sealed trade deal as well as a technology security initiative launched in July last year.

It also said that 64 Indian companies would collectively invest 1.3 billion pounds ($1.75 billion) in Britain, announced during a visit of the UK's largest ever trade mission to India, with more than 100 companies and organisations travelling with the prime minister.

"The UK-India trade deal is already unlocking growth, and today's announcements mark the beginning of a new era of collaboration between our two nations," Starmer said.

The deal between the world's fifth and sixth largest economies, agreed after U.S. President Donald Trump unleashed tariff turmoil, aims to increase bilateral trade by a further 25.5 billion pounds by 2040.

In a readout of a meeting of the countries' trade ministers on Wednesday, India's commerce ministry said they agreed to work more closely in sectors including advanced manufacturing, digital trade, clean energy and services.

But the countries do not agree on everything. After Modi wished Russian President Vladimir Putin happy birthday on Tuesday, Starmer joked to reporters that he would not be doing the same, given Britain's strong backing for Ukraine and condemnation of Russia over its invasion.

Britain says it respects India's strategic independence and Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander, a former trade minister who joined the UK delegation, told reporters the issue had not prevented Starmer from leveraging a close relationship with Modi to grow the UK economy.

Source: Reuters

To stay updated on all economic events of today, please check out our Economic calendar

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Manuel

Central Bank

Economic

Officials at the Federal Reserve cut the central bank's influential interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point last month despite inflation remaining near the top of their list of worries, according to minutes released by the Federal Open Market Committee Wednesday.

The minutes detailed the discussions that led the Fed to cut interest rates for the first time this year. Central bankers face a dilemma as they strive to fulfill their dual mandate of maintaining low inflation and high employment. Inflation remains above the Fed's target of a 2% annual rate, while job growth has slowed to a crawl.

Fed policymakers have been wrestling with their options: cut the federal funds rate to boost job creation, or keep it higher for longer to wrestle down inflation. The Fed's key interest rate influences the economy because it dictates borrowing costs on all kinds of short-term loans.

While markets widely expect the Fed to make two more cuts at its remaining meetings this year, Fed officials are keeping a close eye on inflation, suggesting higher-than-expected price increases in the coming months could derail those expectations.

"Two more rate cuts aren’t a done deal because policymakers aren’t letting go of their inflation mandate," David Russell, global head of market strategy at TradeStation, wrote in a commentary.

How This Affects Your Finances

The minutes show that the Federal Reserve officials are still grappling with what they're next right move could be. That could also make it harder to plan your financial future, as the federal funds rate influences borrowing costs on all kinds of loans.

Although all 12 members of the Fed's policy committee voted to cut rates by at least a quarter-point, some said they would have been content to leave it unchanged.

"A few participants stated there was merit in keeping the federal funds rate unchanged at this meeting or that they could have supported such a decision," the minutes said. "These participants noted that progress toward the Committee’s 2% inflation objective had stalled this year as inflation readings increased and expressed concern that longer-term inflation expectations may rise if inflation does not return to its objective in a timely manner."

In recent public comments, Fed officials have emphasized that the central bank is in a tough spot, with its dual mandate pulling it in opposite directions. Most have supported gradual rate cuts, with the notable exception of Stephen Miran, newly appointed to the FOMC by President Donald Trump, who has advocated for steep reductions.

At least one Fed official, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, is concerned tariffs are pushing the economy into a period of stagnant growth and high inflation, known by the portmanteau "stagflation."

"We know that tariffs push up prices on the goods that we're buying from abroad and they can slow down economic activity," Kashkari said at an event in Minneapolis Tuesday. "Some of the data that we're looking at is sending some stagflationary signal."

It's not just Fed officials who are worried about inflation and the job market.

Consumer expectations for inflation worsened, and expectations of job losses rose, according to a survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released on Tuesday. The NY Fed's Survey of Consumer Expectations showed one-year inflation expectations ticking up to 3.4% in September from 3.2% in August, while expectations for annual inflation five years from now rose to 3% from 2.9%.

The FOMC is scheduled to make its next policy decision on Oct. 29.

Source: Investopedia

To stay updated on all economic events of today, please check out our Economic calendar

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Manuel

Stocks

Political

The Trump administration’s latest wave of import tariffs — ranging from a 25% duty on heavy-duty trucks to levies on industrial inputs and manufactured goods from China and India — are causing U.S. shippers and manufacturers to scramble for stability, logistics experts said.

Marc Schaffer, principal economist at transportation-technology firm Breakthrough, said the tariff changes come amid what he called an “extended freight recession,” with volumes largely flat and shippers focused on cost control while preserving key carrier relationships for when the market eventually turns.

Breakthrough, a U.S. Venture company, is a provider of sustainable fuel and freight solutions for shippers. The company’s data shows little freight growth across most industries, as companies delay major decisions in response to volatile costs and new trade barriers.

“If you look at that data now in the last couple of months, it’s almost just kind of funneled to this like near zero percent growth year-over-year, where it’s just kind of getting a lot of flatness. No big decisions, a lot of uncertainty in the market,” Schaffer told FreightWaves.

The proposed 25% duty on imported medium- and heavy-duty trucks, Schaffer said, could squeeze smaller carriers and complicate fleet replacement cycles already slowed by excess capacity and high financing costs.

“I think this whole thing was somewhat expected just because they did the Section 232 investigation,” Schaffer said. “My policy analyst just made the comment that we’re actually still waiting for a signed executive order with all the details of exactly what, on the ground does this really mean?”

Manufacturers brace for the ‘new normal’

At Fictiv executives are seeing similar confusion among customers trying to plan around shifting duty rates.

“We see [tariffs] as the new normal,” said Vinny Licata, the company’s head of logistics and import compliance. “What we’ve done is we’ve actually put on our platform, provided our customers with more transparency on what the duty cost rates will be.”

San Francisco-based Fictiv offers on-demand procurement services for custom mechanical components parts for the U.S. manufacturing industry. The company has production operations in the U.S., China, India and Mexico, with a total of 400 employees.

Fictiv’s platform has the capability to quote live duty rates and provide real-time cost visibility as tariffs fluctuate between 15% and 50% depending on product category or country of origin.

That transparency, Licata said, is critical as manufacturers weigh whether to relocate production.

“Once you start production in a region, you can’t just move it easily,” he said. “We’re helping customers understand the cost implications before they make that commitment.”

Nearshoring gains traction, but challenges remain

Fictiv continues to see growth in domestic and nearshoring activity as firms look to hedge geopolitical risk, Licata said.

Mexico operations, Licata said, are expanding under the United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA) framework, with several customers shifting production south of the border.

Larger firms such as Eli Lilly and Fujifilm can more easily absorb costs and invest in U.S. facilities, but smaller and mid-sized manufacturers remain under pressure.

“You’re going to see more manufacturing come back to the U.S.,” Licata said, “but it’s not going to look like the old days — it’ll be advanced, automated, and technology-driven.”

Data visibility becomes the new competitive edge

Schaffer agrees that technology and data-driven visibility will be vital. Breakthrough’s clients are leaning heavily on lane-level pricing analytics and sustainability metrics to find efficiencies amid cost pressure.

“It’s all about using data to make smarter decisions, whether that’s switching modes, reducing empty miles, or identifying alternative fuels that deliver cost parity,” Schaffer said.

For now, both executives see 2026 shaping up as another year of slow freight growth and steady but modest rate increases —roughly 2% to 3% — as tariffs, tight margins, and policy uncertainty continue to test the industry’s resilience.

“Until we get more definitive information and clarity,” Schaffer said, “companies will keep doing what they’re doing — trying to hold steady and control what they can.”

Source: FreightWaves

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Manuel

Cryptocurrency

Investor appetite for XRP is widening as traders seek new ways to increase exposure beyond spot holdings.

The rise of XRP-focused leveraged exchange-traded funds (ETFs) illustrates this trend, revealing how participants supplement traditional accumulation with higher-risk, higher-reward strategies.

Leveraged XRP ETFs

On Oct. 7, GraniteShares, a leading ETP issuer, filed to launch two XRP-based leveraged funds, including the GraniteShares 3x Long XRP Daily ETF and the GraniteShares 3x Short XRP Daily ETF. The firm also filed for leveraged products focused on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.

These funds aim to triple XRP’s daily gains or losses, providing traders with a regulated and liquid means of adjusting exposure without relying on perpetual futures markets.

Their entry follows the success of Teucrium’s XXRP ETF, which recently surpassed $400 million in total net assets within six months of its debut.

Similarly, ProShares’ Ultra XRP ETF (UXRP)—designed to deliver twice the daily performance of XRP/USD—has gathered more than $100 million in assets.

Together, these leveraged ETFs now manage over $500 million, an impressive figure for funds launched less than a year ago and ahead of any approved spot counterpart.

While leveraged ETFs carry inherent risks such as volatility decay from daily resets, their rapid growth underscores unmet demand for flexible, regulated tools that connect crypto’s speculative energy with traditional financial infrastructure.

Considering this, Jeff Park, an advisor to asset management firm Bitwise, explained that:

“It [is] intuitive to understand the impact leveraged ETFs have on a stock. Their constant leverage target effectively creates a buy-high, sell-low trading pattern as the underlying price fluctuates. In essence, they are reflexively long on autocorrelation.”

XRP derivatives growth

Meanwhile, this surge in XRP leveraged products parallels a broader increase in the digital asset’s derivatives activity.

Data from Coinglass shows that open interest in XRP futures has increased to approximately $9 billion, with average volumes remaining above $7 billion since early October.

The data indicate that both institutional and speculative capital are expanding exposure through multiple channels rather than shifting away from spot markets. The rising demand is evidence of a maturing market structure.

Spot accumulation anchors long-term investor confidence, while leveraged ETFs cater to short-term tactical positioning ahead of potential catalysts such as spot ETF approvals once regulatory reviews resume after the US government shutdown.

Overall, XRP’s evolving market now reflects multiple layers of participation from spot holders, futures traders, and leveraged ETF investors. Together, these groups are shaping a more liquid and diversified ecosystem where market depth and participation breadth matter as much as the speculative activities of the years past.

Source: Cryptoslate

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Commodity

Oil rose to the highest in a week after a government report showed a decline in domestic product stockpiles, while strength in broader markets supported crude prices.

West Texas Intermediate climbed 1.3% to trade above $62 a barrel, aided by gains in US equities. The Energy Information Administration reported a 763,000-barrel weekly drop at the Cushing hub in Oklahoma, as well as lower oil-product holdings across the board. US distillate stocks, in particular, saw the largest decline since late June. Oil Climbs as US Product Stockpiles Drop and Equities Advance_1

Oil Climbs as US Product Stockpiles Drop and Equities Advance_1

Price gains are still capped by the outlook for ample global supplies, with OPEC+ ramping up production and the US forecasting record domestic output this year. Russian exports are also close to a 16-month high as Ukrainian drone strikes against refineries cut domestic processing.

“The disconnect continues between paper pricing and the predicted glut in global balances,” said Keshav Lohiya, founder of consultant Oilytics. “We are back to an oil trading world where flat price is firmly in the $65 to $70 world.”

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reaffirmed its bearish outlook on oil, saying the global market faces an average daily surplus of about 2 million barrels from this quarter through next year. That will drag prices lower, with Brent expected to average $56 a barrel in 2026, analysts including Yulia Grigsby said in a note.

In corporate news, Exxon Mobil Corp. signed agreements that lay the groundwork for it to explore Iraq’s giant Majnoon oil field, ending the company’s near two-year hiatus in the country.

Source: Bloomberg

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Adam

Cryptocurrency

A race by crypto companies to sell tokens pegged to stocks is raising alarm bells among traditional financial firms and regulatory experts who warn that the fast-growing novel products pose risks to investors and market stability.

Buoyed by President Donald Trump's pro-crypto stance and his administration's push for friendly regulations, the crypto industry is rushing to capitalize on a global surge in enthusiasm for the sector.

Robinhood (HOOD.O), Gemini (GEMI.O) and Kraken among others have launched tokenized stocks in Europe, while Coinbase (COIN.O), Robinhood and startup Dinari are seeking approval to launch similar products in the United States. Nasdaq, meanwhile, last month became the first major exchange to propose offering tokenized shares.

The industry says tokenized shares — blockchain-based instruments that track traditional equities — could revolutionize stock markets by allowing shares to be traded 24/7 and settled instantly, boosting liquidity and reducing transaction costs. The combined value of tokenized public stocks geared toward retail investors as of September grew to $412 million, compared with just a few million dollars 12 months ago, according to tokenization tracker RWA.xyz.

Although many products are marketed like stocks, they rarely offer the same rights, disclosures and protections as traditional equities. Instead, they more closely resemble riskier derivatives, according to a Reuters review of several products and interviews with a dozen industry executives and legal experts. That increases the hazards for investors, while tokenization more broadly could undermine market integrity and fragment liquidity if left unsupervised, critics say.

"You're buying exposures to those shares through creating some sort of synthetic instrument," said Diego Ballon Ossio, a partner at law firm Clifford Chance in London. "A lot of the burden gets shifted on you to understand what exactly it is that you're buying."

A few companies have issued their own experimental stock tokens on the blockchain - software that acts as a shared digital ledger - but most tokenized shares are pegged to public companies and issued by third parties like Ondo Global Markets and Dinari. Some tokens are backed 1:1 by underlying stocks, while others provide economic exposure through derivatives.

The industry is divided over which regulations apply to stock tokens, and investor rights and protections vary. Often, the products provide no ownership, voting rights or traditional dividends, while creating counterparty risk exposure to the token issuer.

For example, there are multiple tokens pegged to Nvidia (NVDA.O) and Tesla (TSLA.O) with a range of structures and terms and conditions.

"The fact that different tokenized offerings have different rights and different disclosures ... that's a real big worry," said Gabriel Otte, CEO of Dinari, which offers 1:1 collateralization.

Robinhood in June launched trading in tokens pegged to public companies and said it plans to offer tokenized stocks of private companies. To promote the launch, it gave away tokens pegged to OpenAI. Those tokens are derivative contracts backed by Robinhood's ownership of fund units in a special-purpose vehicle that holds OpenAI convertible notes, according to its terms and conditions.

The announcement drew pushback from OpenAI, which said it had not blessed the offering. It also prompted scrutiny from Robinhood's European regulator.

Johann Kerbrat, general manager of Robinhood Crypto, said the company clearly flags that its tokens are derivatives.

"It's just one step forward to be able to have the benefits of no longer having multiple days to settle," he added.

While Robinhood is issuing public company tokens on the blockchain, it is not yet settling the trades on the blockchain, a spokesperson said.

Gemini declined to comment.

CORE INVESTOR PROTECTIONS

In Europe, Robinhood, Kraken and others operate under the "MiFID" derivatives rules but some legal experts say that law is insufficient to oversee the novel products. Trump's crypto-friendly chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Paul Atkins, has indicated the agency plans to grant would-be issuers exemptions from securities rules.

That plan is facing opposition from powerful Wall Street players including Citadel Securities and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, which say such major structural changes should go through a formal rulemaking process.

"Just because a security is represented on blockchain, that doesn't change the core investor protections and other provisions that apply to securities," said Peter Ryan, head of international capital markets at SIFMA.

In a July letter to the SEC, Citadel Securities raised concerns that tokenization would siphon liquidity away from public markets.

Spokespeople for the SEC declined to comment, while Citadel Securities did not provide comment beyond the letter.

A spokesperson for the European Securities and Markets Authority, which helps oversee MiFID, said it was aware of the potential risks of tokenization and was monitoring developments.

The World Federation of Exchanges recently urged regulators to crack down on tokenization, citing insufficient investor protections and liquidity fragmentation, although the group told Reuters it supports Nasdaq's proposal because it would treat tokens like traditional stocks.

Coinbase is also in talks with the SEC about launching tokenized securities that would similarly grant investors the full legal rights and benefits associated with conventional stocks, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Other issuers said they hew closely to traditional securities, anti-money laundering, bankruptcy protections and other rules.

Mark Greenberg, Kraken's global head of consumer, said the company offered the "gold standard" including 1:1 collateralization and investor disclosures, while dismissing derivative offerings as "IOUs."

"Done right, tokenization enhances investor protections, rather than eroding them," said Ian De Bode, chief strategy officer at Ondo Finance.