Top World News — October 12, Update

Monday closed with a widening confidence shock in the Gulf, as the heads of the world’s biggest oil companies walked away from Riyadh’s flagship energy congress, while Bitcoin consolidated near $82,700 and crude swung through a volatile session that kept Brent near two-week highs.

Big oil CEOs pull out of Riyadh energy congress

The chief executives of ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, Shell and BP withdrew from the World Petroleum Council’s energy congress that opened in Riyadh on October 11. Analysis by Reuters Breakingviews says the attacks are striking at the core of Saudi Arabia’s economic pivot, and the withdrawals mark the first corporate-confidence damage beyond the wave of flight cancellations. The war premium on oil and freight stays supported.

Bitcoin consolidates near $82,700

BTC traded around $82,742 (down 0.83%), flat against the earlier $82,738 level, as the consolidation continued on thin momentum. There were no new institutional or regulatory crypto moves in the window. Evernorth’s XRPN saw its first day of Nasdaq trading, although the first-day close figure had not yet been published; the closing-bell ceremony is set for October 14.

Oil swings through a volatile Monday session

Brent touched about $106.79 and WTI about $93.54 in Monday’s session, near two-week highs, before dipping intraday to $103.35 and $90.42 on Russia-Ukraine diesel-deal and energy-ceasefire headlines. The evening snapshot held Brent at $105.66 and WTI at $92.91, with the day’s band at $103.35-106.80 and Middle East risk keeping crude supported above $100.

Market snapshot: BTC ~$82,742 (-0.83%); ETH ~$2,550; XRP ~$1.41; the Fear & Greed index at 58 (neutral). Oil closed a choppy Monday with Brent near two-week highs. Next catalysts: US September CPI on October 14 (headline expected around 3.7%) alongside the XRPN closing-bell ceremony, US PPI on October 15, the FOMC meeting on October 28, the EU leaders’ summit on October 15-16, and the US midterms on November 3.