Good evening, this is Markets Desk with your market close briefing.
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller is shifting his rate outlook, citing stubborn inflation expectations and softening consumer confidence. His pivot, delivered at the Istanbul Economic Forum, signals the Fed is not yet ready to ease, and Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack echoed that concern, warning that businesses still holding pricing power suggest monetary policy hasn't bitten hard enough.
Staying with the AI trade, OpenAI's revenue story just got more complicated. The ChatGPT maker told investors its annualized revenue was approaching fifty billion dollars at the close of September, roughly twenty billion short of the seventy billion figure that had been circulating on Wall Street. That gap is rattling confidence in AI growth narratives more broadly, even as the company's absolute numbers remain extraordinary.
Meanwhile in crypto, the divergence between XRP and the broader digital asset space is becoming impossible to ignore. Bitcoin ETFs shed six hundred eighty one million dollars in net withdrawals last week, Ethereum lost another five hundred forty two million, and Solana bled nearly twenty five million more. XRP funds, by contrast, extended their inflow streak to thirteen consecutive weeks.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
