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Saudi Arabia, Iraq Sign Electricity Interconnection Agreement

Saudi Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman and Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar sign the agreement (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman and Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar sign the agreement (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi Arabia, Iraq Sign Electricity Interconnection Agreement

Saudi Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman and Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar sign the agreement (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman and Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar sign the agreement (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia and Iraq signed the executive report on the principles of the electricity interconnection agreement between the two countries implementing the memorandum of understanding signed at the beginning of 2022.

The electrical interconnection will link from Arar in northern Saudi Arabia to Yusufiya near Baghdad and have a capacity of 1,000 megawatts and a voltage of 400 kilovolts, with a length of 435 km.

The event was attended by the Saudi Minister of Energy, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, who praised the role of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in accelerating the electricity connection with Iraq, which comes as confirmation of the continuous cooperation in all fields.

The Minister indicated that the deal also expresses both countries' desire to consolidate economic relations between them to achieve the aspirations of their leadership and people and ensure the speedy implementation of the project.

He explained that the completion of this project comes within the framework of Vision 2030 and its executive programs, which focuses on investing in the Kingdom's strategic location.

The project will contribute to supporting the reliability of the electrical networks in the two countries, achieving economic savings, supporting the integration of the networks into renewable energy, and achieving optimal investments in electricity generation projects.

The project also constitutes a step to establish a regional market for electricity trade and support the two countries' participation.

In addition, the Gulf Interconnection Authority (GCCIA) signed the contract between its network and the electricity grid of southern Iraq on the sidelines of the Jeddah Security and Development Summit, hosted by Saudi Arabia on Saturday.

The contract includes the authority's construction of lines from its substation in Kuwait to the al-Faw station in southern Iraq to ​​supply it with about 500 megawatts of energy from the Gulf countries.

Construction work will take about 24 months with a total transmission capacity of 1800 megawatts.

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China’s January-September Fiscal Revenue up 5.1% y/y

People look at their phones in a touristic area in Beijing, China, 22 October 2026. (EPA)
People look at their phones in a touristic area in Beijing, China, 22 October 2026. (EPA)
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China’s January-September Fiscal Revenue up 5.1% y/y

People look at their phones in a touristic area in Beijing, China, 22 October 2026. (EPA)
People look at their phones in a touristic area in Beijing, China, 22 October 2026. (EPA)

China's fiscal revenue increased 5.1% in the first nine months of 2026 from a year earlier, following a gain of 5.7% in the January-August period, the finance ministry said on Friday.

In the January-September period, fiscal revenue totaled 17.2 trillion yuan ($2.58 trillion), with tax revenue growing 6.1% year-on-year and non-tax ‌revenue expanding ‌1.2%.

Fiscal expenditure was up ‌1.0% ⁠on the year ⁠in the period, slowing from a rise of 1.2% in the first eight months.

China has accelerated local special bond issuance this year and plans to front-load part of its 2027 ⁠quota, finance ministry official Zhao Zeyong ‌told a press ‌conference on Friday.

Net special bond issuance ‌from January to September reached 3.56 trillion ‌yuan, accounting for 81% of the annual quota, and issuance for September was at 633.5 billion yuan, up by 214.8 billion yuan ‌from the same month last year, Zhao said.

Revenue from ⁠government ⁠land sales fell 27.9% on the year for the period from January to September, narrowing from a fall of 28.6% in the first eight months of this year.

The property sector downturn that began in mid-2021 has eroded land-sale revenue, long a crucial funding source for Chinese local governments.

Business

Asian Stocks Mixed Ahead of Weekend as Tech Recovers Early Losses

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP)
A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP)
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Asian Stocks Mixed Ahead of Weekend as Tech Recovers Early Losses

A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP)
A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP)

Asian equities were mixed Friday as tech firms managed to claw back some early losses on bargain-buying at the end of tough week for the sector, while traditional safe havens benefited from a generally cautious mood.

Since AI-linked companies hit record highs in June, their equity prices have been pummeled by concerns they were overvalued, their huge outlays on infrastructure and hardware might not return a profit and, more recently, their servicing costs were spiraling.

That has combined with an Iran war-fueled surge in oil prices to more than $100 that has ramped up inflation, forced central banks to hike interest rates and sent government borrowing costs to multi-decade highs.

Strong earnings in past quarters have been able to temper many of the concerns, but analysts pointed out that investors are demanding better and better results to justify their backing.

Earnings from Facebook-parent Meta and chip equipment maker Lam Research this week have beaten forecasts but seen their shares dive.

"Even positive news is being ignored," said FOREX.com's Fawad Razaqzada.

"Strong results are no longer enough if the outlook fails to match an already demanding valuation. Investors are becoming much less forgiving."

The rush out of tech has, however, boosted industrial companies overlooked for much of the AI boom, with the Dow rising this week while the Nasdaq and S&P 500 retreated.

The general losses in New York filtered through to Asia in the morning, but some markets staged a comeback as the day progressed.

Seoul -- which was at the forefront of the AI boom and has led recent losses -- shed more than two percent after the open but was up at the close.

Chipmaker and market heavyweight SK hynix -- a major target amid the waves of buying and selling -- ended up more than four percent. However, its US shares fell more than eight percent Thursday after it said it was scrapping plans for an initial public offering for its US subsidiary Solidigm, citing "market conditions and share price trends".

There were also gains in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore and Jakarta.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225, which is also heavily weighted to tech, ended in the red, though well off earlier lows. Wellington, Mumbai and Manila were also down. Taipei was closed as Typhoon Champi neared Taiwan.

London, Frankfurt and Paris dropped in the morning.

Safe havens benefited, with the yen rallying against the dollar, helped by strong Japanese inflation data that boosted bets on another interest rate hike.

The currency has struggled against the greenback in recent years owing to the wide interest rate gap between the United States and Japan, as well as worries about the Asian giant's fiscal situation.

US Treasuries were also in demand, with yields falling from two-decade highs.

"Markets are looking for safe havens as the now familiar fears over AI and the tech sector, alongside ever higher oil and energy prices are powering a move back into bonds," said National Australia Bank's Gavin Friend.

"Regardless of the continued climb in oil prices, investors are increasingly looking for safe havens with the recent pullback in US Treasury yields getting a sizeable push," he said, adding that two- and 10-year Treasury yields were at one-month lows.

And Carol Kong at Commonwealth Bank of Australia said the yen could benefit further if the tech trade continued to deteriorate.

Oil prices added to the dour mood on fresh Middle East worries. Brent extended Thursday's spike and headed back towards $115 a barrel for the first time since May, while WTI topped $100.

The latest rally came after Iran threatened to hit US bases in the region if its military continued to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

Business

Gold Heads for Steep Weekly Loss as Oil Prices Fuel Fed Rate Concerns

British gold bars and Sovereign gold coins are displayed at Baird & Co. in Hatton Garden, London (Reuters)
British gold bars and Sovereign gold coins are displayed at Baird & Co. in Hatton Garden, London (Reuters)
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Gold Heads for Steep Weekly Loss as Oil Prices Fuel Fed Rate Concerns

British gold bars and Sovereign gold coins are displayed at Baird & Co. in Hatton Garden, London (Reuters)
British gold bars and Sovereign gold coins are displayed at Baird & Co. in Hatton Garden, London (Reuters)

Gold eased on Friday, headed for its steepest weekly decline in over four months as elevated oil prices bolstered higher-for-longer interest rate expectations, while investors awaited next week's Federal Reserve policy meeting.

Spot gold eased 0.1% to $4,021.04 per ounce by 0554 GMT, paring losses slightly after touching its lowest level since July 20 earlier in the session. The metal has fallen ‌3.6% so far ‌this week, putting it on track for ‌its ⁠worst week since June.

US ⁠gold futures for December delivery dropped 0.6% to $4,035.50.

Speculators are trying to defend the key $4,000 level for gold because a clean break below would signal that the market has stopped pricing rate relief and started pricing sticky inflation, elevated yields, and a stronger dollar, said Monte Safieddine, head of market research at Capital.com.

Oil ⁠prices rose on Friday after Houthi attacks in ‌Saudi Arabia stoked concerns of further ‌disruption to energy supplies from the Middle East.

Elevated energy prices bolster expectations ‌of higher-for-longer interest rates by the Fed, increasing the opportunity cost ‌of holding non-yielding bullion.

"Any further escalation on the geopolitical front risks pushing oil even higher. Higher oil is reviving inflation fears, lifting yields, and delaying Fed easing. That is a difficult cocktail for bullion," ‌Safieddine added.

Focus has turned to the Fed's October 27-28 policy meeting and next week's Personal ⁠Consumption Expenditures ⁠data, a closely watched gauge because it is the central bank's preferred inflation measure for its 2% inflation target.

Traders are largely expecting the central bank to leave interest rates unchanged next week, but expectations for an interest rate hike in December remain at 76%.

Meanwhile, analysts at HSBC cut their average 2026 platinum and palladium price forecasts in a research note on Thursday, citing shifting market fundamentals and investor liquidation.

Among other metals, spot silver slid 0.4% to $54.31 per ounce, platinum rose 0.3% to $1,574.33 and palladium gained 0.3% to $1,056.49.

However, all three metals were headed for weekly declines.