Summary:The euro opened lower on escalating riots in France, drone incidents over the Black Sea and US warnings over EU tech rules, then recovered most of the gapOil edged lower after Trump signed an order waiving some sanctions and duties on Russian energy, with the US set to receive more than 300,000 tonnes of Russian dieselHouthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and Iran’s conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz limited oil’s downsidePutin has proposed a three-way meeting with Trump and Xi on Ukraine, possibly at next month’s APEC summitChina’s Q3 GDP grew 4.5% y/y, beating forecasts, with September retail sales and industrial output firmer, though investment stayed weakRBA Assistant Governor Kent said neutral rates appear to be rising and questioned whether policy is restrictive enoughBOJ Governor Ueda said anchoring underlying inflation is becoming more important and that appropriate rate hikes help stabilise JGBsGold edged higher, AI data centre financing came under scrutiny, and crypto network Qubic halted after a wallet theftThe euro opened the week lower as escalating riots in France added to a run of risk headlines in Europe. Romania’s defence ministry said its F-16s shot down two drones over Romanian territorial waters in the Black Sea on Saturday, while the US ambassador to the European Union warned that European companies could face severe retaliation in the US market if Brussels reserves satellite-to-phone spectrum for local operators, a move that would limit SpaceX. The ambassador also criticised EU cloud rules and fines under the Digital Markets Act. The single currency has since recovered most of its opening gap.Oil prices dipped after President Donald Trump signed an executive order waiving certain sanctions, restrictions and duties on Russian energy. The US is expected to initially receive more than 300,000 tonnes of Russian diesel. Losses did not extend, given reports of further Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, while Iran reiterated that its proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz depends on Washington meeting its demands.On diplomacy, Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed a three-way meeting with Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping next month to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, a format that would exclude Kyiv, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Kremlin confirmed talks on a possible meeting but said there is no agreement on whether it will go ahead or what it would cover, and a senior US official said Trump has not agreed to a summit.Gold edged higher, with softer oil prices offering some support.China provided the main data of the day. Third-quarter GDP grew 4.5% from a year earlier, ahead of the 4.4% forecast and up from 4.3% in the second quarter, which had been the slowest pace in more than three years. Quarterly growth was 1.2%, beating expectations of 1.1%. Growth for the first nine months was 4.6%, within the government’s 4.5% to 5.0% target, which may ease pressure for more aggressive stimulus. September data was also firmer: industrial output rose 5.5%, its fastest in six months, helped by exports of AI-related technology goods, while retail sales grew 1.1%, up from 0.4% in August and the quickest since March. Investment remained the weak spot, with fixed asset investment down 7.2% over the first nine months and property investment down around 20.5%.In central bank commentary, Reserve Bank of Australia Assistant Governor Christopher Kent said there is reasonable evidence that neutral interest rates are rising in Australia and abroad. He said he is confident policy is somewhat restrictive but questioned whether it is restrictive enough. Kent noted household demand is softening, business credit remains strong and housing tax changes have supported monetary policy. He was cautious about reading too much into monthly jobs data but said the labour market has become less tight.Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said anchoring underlying inflation around 2% is becoming more important, pointing to supply-driven price pressures from Middle East energy costs and demand-driven inflation from strong AI-related demand. He said the bank’s bond taper plan is unchanged and declined to pre-set conditions for action in the JGB market, citing rapid yield rises or disruption to market functioning as possible factors. Ueda added that appropriate rate hikes help stabilise government bonds. The yen edged higher but gave up its modest gains as the session progressed.Elsewhere, scrutiny of the US AI infrastructure build-out intensified after reports that at least 47 large data centre projects have been delayed, withdrawn or blocked this year, as debt tied to AI infrastructure groups sold off. In crypto, layer 1 network Qubic halted its blockchain after an attacker exploited weak randomness in wallet seed generation to drain around 2.94 trillion QU, roughly $1.3 million, from 1,404 wallets. About 87% of the stolen funds remain frozen on the network, and its validators will decide on recovery.Looking ahead, markets will watch whether the euro’s recovery holds as French unrest develops, how oil balances easier Russian supply against Middle East risks, and whether firmer Chinese data and hawkish-leaning central bank commentary reshape rate expectations. This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at investinglive.com.