Fed holds rates, Lagarde sets exit date, Nasdaq sinks on AI spending

Three major central banks sat on their hands this week. The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged, and Chair Kevin Warsh said the Fed will shrink its policy rate decisions to seven next year and six in 2028. The European Central Bank also held steady, while the Bank of Japan left its benchmark rate untouched.

The ECB news came with a twist: President Christine Lagarde announced she is leaving the post on February 7, 2027, saying she wants the freedom to speak her mind again. Markets now have a departure date to circle on the calendar.

Over in tech, earnings season rolled on with Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Intel all reporting. Investors weren't thrilled. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 dropped sharply at the end of the week after the reports revealed huge AI capital expenditures that weren't producing immediate returns, per Breaking The News.

Binance is dealing with a different kind of hit. The crypto exchange reported a major security incident with an estimated impact of $6.3 billion, and said the same day that 90% of the stolen assets have been replenished. Withdrawals are expected to resume November 1.

The Iran crisis stayed loud. US President Donald Trump repeated that the war will end soon one way or another, while Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei insisted all American and Israeli assets must be within military reach.

Israel's general election grabbed global attention after the country's multi-front war. Final results showed neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bloc nor the camp behind rival Gadi Eisenkot, a former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, won the majority needed to govern. Arab parties took 19 Knesset seats and could end up deciding Israel's political future.