Risk Assets Recover on Hopes of US-China Deal – Market wrap for the North American session - October 17

[Redator]

Log in to today's North American session Market wrap for October 17

US stocks finished a nervous week on a high note, gaining ground as President Donald Trump's comments suggested trade tensions with China were easing and regional bank stocks bounced back.

The S&P 500 index saw its best weekly gain since August after Trump said he was optimistic about reaching a deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping at their upcoming meeting, calming fears of an escalating trade war.

This positive sentiment was boosted by a rebound in regional bank stocks, which had plunged earlier in the week due to loan quality fears.

Both Zions Bancorp and Western Alliance Bancorp, the banks at the heart of the worry, rallied over 3.1% as bank executives quickly reassured investors and reported lower-than-expected provisions for loan losses in their latest earnings.

As market confidence returned, traders moved money out of safe-haven assets: bonds, gold, and silver all fell, while bond yields rose from their recent lows. Despite the week's high volatility, investors poured $28.1 billion back into stock funds, pulling money out of cash funds.

Separately, with the US government shutdown still blocking official data, one unofficial measure showed that applications for unemployment benefits fell last week, suggesting the job market may still be stable despite other signs of economic weakness. Oracle Corp. was a notable exception to the rally, dropping about 7% due to renewed concerns about its ability to meet the massive demand for its AI cloud services.

Read More:

Silver (XAG/USD) Technical Outlook: Silver Price Consolidates Ahead of Next Move. Where to Next?

A New Trade War Begun? U.S.–China Tensions Back in the Spotlight

US: Lack of Labor Market Data Due to Government Shutdown – Investors Seek Alternative Indicators

Cross-Assets Daily Performance

zoom_out_map

Cross-Asset Daily Performance, October 16, 2025 – Source: TradingView

US stocks recovered with the Nasdaq 100 leading the way. The surprise of the day came from Gold which retreated to a daily low around $4190/oz before recovering to $4250/oz before the market close. The question now is whether the precious metal will be able to continue its rally next week?

Bitcoin continues to edge its way lower as it struggles to regain bullish traction despite increasing rate cut bets.

A picture of today's performance for major currencies

zoom_out_map

Currency Performance, October 15 – Source: OANDA Labs

The U.S. dollar is set to record a weekly loss against major currencies.

The dollar weakened against the safe-haven Swiss franc, falling to its lowest level since mid-September and heading for its biggest weekly decline since June.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. currency against a basket of others, is on track for a 0.43% weekly slide.

Meanwhile, the euro is set for its strongest weekly performance against the dollar in nine weeks, despite a small drop on Friday.

The Japanese yen saw its earlier gains fade after the Bank of Japan's Governor, Kazuo Ueda, discussed the factors that could lead to an interest rate increase this month.

A look at Economic data releasing early next week

zoom_out_map

For all market-moving economic releases and events, see the MarketPulse Economic Calendar.

The start of next week will be a busy one in terms of data.

Sunday night we have CPI data from New Zealand which could lead to some volatility in NZD pairs.

This will be followed by a Chinese data dump with GDP, Industrial Production and Retail Sales data. All of which could have wider implications for currencies like the Australian Dollar and provide more insight into the Chinese economy.

For more information on data releases next week, read

Follow Zain on Twitter/X for Additional Market News and Insights @zvawda

Opinions are the authors'; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. The provided publication is for informational and educational purposes only.
If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please refer to the MarketPulse Terms of Use.
Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets.
© 2025 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.