Business & Markets

GOTHENBURG — Volvo Cars said Friday it will cut about 2,500 jobs worldwide, around 2,000 of them in Sweden, after a third-quarter operating loss of 5.6 billion Swedish kronor, about $564 million. A year earlier it posted a profit of 6.4 billion kronor. Revenue in China fell almost 50% as established premium brands lost ground to cheaper local rivals. U.S. tariffs and the end of EV incentives added to the damage. The company will also find a further 5 billion kronor in indirect and variable cost savings. The new cuts come on top of about 3,000 positions announced last year. CEO Håkan Samuelsson said the change in China came faster than expected. Shares dropped sharply on the news, with reports putting the fall between 24% and above 30%. Volvo is majority-owned by Geely.

PARIS — Shares of Gucci owner Kering fell about 12% in early European trading Friday after disappointing third-quarter results, putting it at the bottom of the Stoxx 600. The stock is now down 43% over 12 months. An analyst cited by CNBC said Gucci's reliance on new products to drive traffic points to weak interest in its core line, and management has backed away from its earlier outlook of a return to growth. Other luxury names fell too: LVMH slid 1.5%, Richemont 2.4% and Hermès 1.2%. Hermès had dropped nearly 5% on Thursday after its own quarterly report, which was weighed down by soft demand in China.

NEW YORK — Shares of the three big U.S. wireless carriers fell Friday after Bloomberg reported that SpaceX is seeking access to about 80,000 cell sites across the country to build a wireless network. Verizon was down 4.6% early in the session. Analysts had already flagged SpaceX as a possible threat to traditional telecom firms when it reported results earlier this week. Verizon reports earnings Monday. Separately, Phillip Securities upgraded SpaceX to buy and raised its price target to $250 from $75. Neither SpaceX nor the carriers were quoted on the report in the sources reviewed, and the Bloomberg account has not been independently confirmed here.

Google confirmed on October 16 that it is starting to test ads in AI Mode for people who connect their apps through its Personal Intelligence feature, Search Engine Land reported. That group had been ad-free since the feature expanded in March, when Google said that was not changing for now. Google says summaries, excerpts and inferences drawn from connected apps such as Gmail and Photos may help choose the ads shown. It says ads will not be based directly on the inbox or photo library, that sensitive information is excluded, and that advertisers cannot reach the connected apps. The feature is opt-in and can be disconnected at any time. Google has not announced advertiser controls, targeting options, reporting or a wider rollout, and has not said how large the test is.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department and plaintiff states told the D.C. Circuit that Google should be barred from making search-related payments to distributors, such as device makers and browser companies, according to MLex, which reported on the filing October 22. They argue the ban is needed immediately, before Google uses what they call monopoly profits to suppress competition from emerging generative AI products. The filing is part of the government's cross-appeal. The district court's remedies order barred exclusive default deals but stopped short of a full payment ban. It also requires Google to share certain search data and syndicate results to qualified rivals. Google's own brief, filed this week, argues it won 'fair and square.' MLex's full report is behind a subscription.

NEW YORK — Three major central banks meet next week and none is expected to change rates. The Fed's target range is 3.75% to 4.00%, and CNBC reports the CME FedWatch tool shows about a 71% chance of a quarter-point hike in December. BMO's Douglas Porter, quoted by Kiplinger, expects increases in December and March. Treasury yields rebounded Friday after Thursday's big drop: the 10-year closed near 5.00%, the 2-year at 4.686% and the 30-year at about 5.33%. The 10-year had touched 5.36% earlier this month, the highest since 2002. The Fed's preferred inflation gauge, the PCE index, arrives next week, and AP reports forecasts of 3.6% for September. The euro hit a roughly 15-year low in its risk premium on French debt, while the yen gained on haven demand.

WASHINGTON — Households are gloomy even as business activity is strong, a combination that complicates the Fed's job. The University of Michigan's final October sentiment index was 48.0, the second-lowest reading on record after May's 44.8. One-year inflation expectations stood at 4.7%, and five-year expectations rose to 3.5%. Survey director Joanne Hsu said purchasing power continues to dominate consumer views. S&P Global's October flash composite PMI eased to 57.6 from 58.4, still firmly in expansion territory. Its commentary said new orders were at a 4.5-year high and selling prices rose at the fastest pace in over four years, pointing to further inflation above the Fed's target. Al Jazeera noted the latest consumer price index showed inflation at 3.7% year on year.

PARIS — Moody's left France's credit rating at Aa3 on Friday and kept its outlook negative. It cited political fragmentation that could impair parliament's ability to tackle a high deficit, rising debt and higher borrowing costs. A downgrade had been widely discussed. S&P Global and Fitch cut France to A+ in 2025. Moody's said France needs a sustained fiscal effort beyond the April-May 2027 presidential elections, with debt set to exceed 120% of GDP in 2027, and that the rating assumes a deficit-reducing 2027 budget is adopted. French Finance Minister Roland Lescure called the decision recognition of the economy's strength. The 10-year French yield passed 5% this week for the first time since 2002. Reuters reported that France's risk premium over Germany hit its highest since 2011.

WASHINGTON — At its Oct. 15 meeting the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission unanimously proposed a three-tier blanket authorization program for LNG plant work. Some projects that add capacity within an existing footprint could proceed after a 60-day notice. Other activities would qualify automatically. The proposal sets no dollar limits, unlike the long-running pipeline program. Separately, a draft policy statement would end the requirement that applicants submit air-dispersion modeling for environmental reviews of gas projects. Commissioner Judy Chang dissented on that item, citing legal risk and gaps in local air-quality data. Comments on the policy statement are due Nov. 16. Chairman Laura Swett tied the push to supplying fuel for gas-fired power plants. Meanwhile, Oracle is pressing FERC to approve a gas lateral for its Project Jupiter data center in New Mexico, where the state attorney general wants a broader environmental review.

ATLANTA — Georgia Power, the state's largest utility, is expanding its system by nearly 10 gigawatts in anticipation of data-center customers, according to Georgia Public Broadcasting. State Public Service Commission members examined the utility's contract with OpenAI before approving it. They worried that ratepayers could be left paying for infrastructure if OpenAI exited its suburban Savannah site before the 25-year deal ended. To win approval, the utility promised that would not happen and said it would use data-center revenue to offset those and other costs. Georgia Power also says it expects data centers to bear the estimated $16 billion in upfront costs for new plants, substations and transmission lines. Bills already carry a line item for gas costs, and PSC staff modeling examines how added data-center gas demand would affect it. Whether the largest deals will materialize is not guaranteed.