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Spot gold has just broken through the $4070.00/ounce mark, and is currently trading at $4070.14/ounce, down 0.46% on the day; COMEX gold futures are currently trading at $4079.90/ounce, down 0.82% on the day.

[Czech Trade Surplus Narrows in September] The Czech Republic's trade surplus narrowed to 23.7 billion Czech crowns in September 2026, down from 27 billion Czech crowns in the same period last year, but still higher than the market expectation of 11.6 billion Czech crowns. Exports increased by 7.8% year-on-year to 456.8 billion Czech crowns; imports grew even faster, increasing by 9.2% to 433.1 billion Czech crowns. Export growth was mainly driven by increased sales of crude oil and natural gas (+174.8%), electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning (+152.6%), tobacco products (+49.5%), and other manufactured goods (+13.4%). Meanwhile, import growth was mainly due to increased purchases of metal ores (+147.2%), crude oil and natural gas (+56.4%), electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning (+36.2%), and computer, electronic and optical products (+29.8%). From January to September, the trade surplus narrowed to 101.9 billion Czech crowns, compared with 153.6 billion Czech crowns in the same period last year, as import growth (5.6%) exceeded export growth (3.9%).

[Safe-haven buying offsets hawkish stance from the Bank of England, pushing UK gilt yields down] The yield on 10-year UK government bonds fell to around 5.1%, its lowest level since the end of August, as rising risk aversion supported government bonds. Investors pulled away from tech stocks, accelerating their sell-off of chipmakers and hyperscale cloud service providers, fearing that a Democratic landslide victory in the US midterm elections could pave the way for tighter AI regulations and slow the pace of infrastructure investment. Meanwhile, the market continued to assess the impact of the Bank of England's policy decision on Thursday. The Bank of England raised interest rates for the first time in more than three years, and Governor Bailey hinted that further tightening might be necessary unless the Iran war is resolved. This strengthened market expectations for further monetary tightening, with the market now fully pricing in three more rate hikes until November 2027. The Bank of England also warned that inflation could peak at 4.9% in the second quarter of 2027, while its downside scenario points to a sharper rise to 6.2% in the third quarter.

[France's Current Account Deficit Widens] In September 2026, France's seasonally adjusted current account deficit widened to €2.7 billion, compared to a revised €1.4 billion in the previous month. The goods trade deficit increased to €6.2 billion from €5.1 billion in August, with the energy deficit widening to €4.2 billion from €3.6 billion, and the non-energy goods deficit rising to €2 billion from €1.5 billion. Meanwhile, the primary income surplus narrowed to €3.7 billion from €4.1 billion. During the same period, the services trade surplus remained unchanged at €4.9 billion, and the secondary income deficit remained stable at €5.2 billion. In the first nine months of this year, France's current account surplus narrowed to €13.7 billion from €15.8 billion in the same period of 2025.

[Czech Construction Output Rebounds in September] Czech construction output rebounded 1.6% year-on-year in September, recovering from a 1.4% decline in August. Housing construction output grew 0.8%, a significant slowdown from the 5.9% increase in August; civil engineering output grew 2.9%, reversing the 12.3% contraction in August. A total of 5,580 building permits were issued in September, down from 5,684 in August and down 0.5% year-on-year. The total floor area of newly approved buildings expanded by 8.1%. Housing construction showed mixed performance: 3,511 new housing starts were made, down 1.2% year-on-year; housing completions decreased by 1.0% to 2,976 units. After seasonal adjustment, construction output declined 0.4% month-on-month in September, compared to a 0.1% decline in August.

Nymex crude oil futures for the most active contract have just broken through the $90.00/barrel mark, currently trading at $89.99/barrel, down 0.59% on the day.