A reprieve for Reeves as inflation comes in low, while gold suffers a setback

There was finally a sliver of good news for beleaguered chancellor Rachel Reeves this week as she gears up for her anxiously-awaited autumn budget in a month’s time. September’s inflation reading came in below the 4% anticipated by analysts and feared by investors.

The 3.8% reading will have been a pleasant surprise for Reeves as she struggles to fulfil her promise of easing the cost of living crisis, and for the Bank of England as it considers its next move. “I am determined to ensure we support people struggling with higher bills,” said the chancellor, adding that she was “not satisfied” with the figure.

Someone else who may be feeling less than satisfied is Elon Musk, whose electric vehicle company Tesla (TSLA) reported earnings that fell short of expectations on Wednesday. Tesla was the first of the so-called Magnificent 7 tech behemoths to report, with five of the remaining six set to release their numbers in the coming week.

The disappointing start to Mag 7 earnings adds to a broader air of caution around tech stocks as the chorus about a potential AI bubble grows to deafening levels.

There is no such cautious sentiment around gold, even after the safe-haven metal tanked this week, plunging by the most in 12 years on Tuesday. There was no obvious catalyst for the crash from a record high of $4,380 per ounce, with some traders pointing to profit-taking by hedge funds and others laying the blame at selling by Chinese banks.

What is largely agreed on is that this is merely a blip in gold’s unprecedented, record-breaking rally. Most analysts are sticking firmly with their bullish bets, citing central bank demand, bargain buyers rushing in to take advantage of the drop and healthy ETF inflows.

It’s also been a volatile few days for bitcoin (BTC-USD), which has experienced some pretty sizeable swings in value.

Eric Trump is predicting that the world’s largest cryptocurrency will hit $200,000 within a few months and a heady $1 million by the end of the decade. That latter forecast was described as “highly optimistic” by Marion Laboure, a strategist at Deutsche Bank, in her interview on Yahoo Finance’s Markets Sunrise.

She told host Ramzan Karmali where she thinks bitcoin is heading next and whether it could eventually be used as a central bank reserve asset (see video above).

Let’s take a closer look at these and other stories making waves in the finance world this week.

December interest rate cut eyed by traders as inflation holds

While most investors expect the Bank of England to keep rates on hold at 4% next month, expectations have shifted toward a 0.25% reduction by the end of the year. The rate-setting committee’s final meeting of 2025, scheduled for 18 December, is now the focal point for traders forecasting a modest rate cut, with rates potentially dipping to 3.75%.

This shift follows recent economic data and growing speculation that the Bank may seek to adjust its approach to inflation. Suren Thiru, economics director at the Institute of Chartered Accountants, said: “The unexpectedly restrained [September] reading suggests that inflation has now peaked.”

What’s making pension funds bet big on bitcoin?

Digital assets are no longer just a playground for early adopters – big institutions are now joining the game. From pension funds to multi-strategy hedge funds, investors are increasingly looking for crypto exposure. Yahoo Finance Future Focus caught up with Anatoly Crachilov, CEO of Nickel Digital, to find out which institutions are leading the charge and what’s driving their interest.

Crachilov traced the evolution of crypto investors over Nickel Digital’s six-and-a-half-year history. Initially, demand came from family offices, but today, larger institutional players are increasingly stepping in.

“You have endowments, foundations, pension funds carefully exploring the space,” he said. “Ultimately, they will become larger allocators.”

Cooling inflation keeps Fed on course for a rate cut next week

A fresh reading on Friday showing that inflation cooled slightly in September is likely to keep the Federal Reserve on course for another quarter-percentage-point interest rate cut next week amid continued concerns about the job market.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) clocked in at 3% for the month, a tenth of a percent lower than expected but inching up from the 2.9% rate in August. On a “core” basis, which excludes volatile food and energy prices and is the preferred Fed measure, inflation also rose by 3% in September, cooling from 3.1% in the prior month. Month over month, core inflation rose 0.2% after rising 0.3% in the two preceding months.

Will your spending habits change if taxes go up? How you voted

With taxes looking near certain to be hiked in the chancellor’s 26 November budget, we wanted to know what impact this would have on people’s day-to-day spending. Any significant tax rises would inevitably spell trouble for UK households already grappling with the higher cost of living or simply tightening their belts to avoid financial struggles down the line. Perhaps unsurprisingly a vast majority of those who voted said they’d be forced to make reassess how readily they part with their cash.

‘Every UK adult touches our Ordnance Survey data 42 times a day’

“We are a particularly geographical nation,” says Ordnance Survey CEO Nick Bolton. “We are respected over the world for having this digital map of Britain.”

The heritage organisation, now in its 235th year, is still mapping for walkers, scouts and adventurers, but today its largest department is tech. Bolton, who took over two years ago after 18 years with Oxford Metrics, is the company’s first CEO with a tech background. He says that if the agency “had its time again” a CEO with tech experience should have been installed a decade before his arrival.

If you’re looking for elegance, timeless charm and, most importantly, acres of space in your next home, you could do a lot worse than looking at some of the two million properties built in the UK in the 1930s. “They strike a perfect balance between character and practicality, often boasting larger plots and better proportions than newer builds, making them a smart investment for families seeking space and long-term value,” says Stuart Routledge, director of Jackson-Stops, Oxted. Start by having a look at these beauties: 10 well-preserved 1930s homes that are ideal for modern lifestyles

Online payment fraud is on the rise, with criminals steeling more than £600m in the first half of 2025, according to new data from UK Finance. Push payment (APP) fraud — in which victims are tricked into transferring money to criminals — was the most common, accounting for 66% of cases, while just under a fifth stemmed from telecoms networks.

Ben Donaldson at UK Finance, said such scams are a threat to society. “Criminals continue to adapt ways to steal victims’ money and funnel significant sums of money to criminal enterprises, impacting society greatly,” he said. We looked at some of the methods employed by digital fraudsters: The most common online banking scams

Find more personal finance gems here.

Company earning: Five of the “Magnificent 7” tech giants are due to report in the coming week, along with a raft of other major companies across different sectors.

Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL, GOOG) and Meta (META) will release their results on Wednesday, followed by Apple (AAPL) and Amazon (AMZN) on Thursday.

In addition to US big tech, major companies that are due to report include oil major Shell (SHEL.L), which has already said it expects much stronger trading in its gas division in the third quarter.

Economic data: A relatively quiet week on the data front will be dominated by the US Federal Reserve’s highly anticipated rate decision on Wednesday, with bets firmly pointing to a 25 basis-point cut.

The same day, mortgage figures on both sides of the Atlantic will provide an insight into the health of the UK and US housing market. Economists are forecasting no major change in British mortgage approvals in September from August’s 65,680.

French GDP growth on Thursday will be in focus, with analysts forecasting a slowdown in a country rocked by a year of political turmoil. Later that morning, the net will spread to the wider euro-area region, with economic output, consumer confidence and unemployment in the spotlight. Hot on the heels of all that will come an interest rate decision by the European Central Bank, followed quarterly GDP and jobless claims dats for the US.

The week will end with European and US inflation data, and the UK’s closely watched Nationwide Housing Prices index.

Download the Yahoo Finance app, available for Apple and Android.