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![Now that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire and hostage deal, the White House is shifting focus to its next diplomatic goal: expanding the landmark Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states.
‘There’s a lot of positive momentum that will pick up,’ a senior administration official told reporters Thursday evening after the deal was signed. ‘Hopefully this will lead to much better sentiment and the opportunity to expand the Abraham Accords — to really just change the tone in the region.’
During President Donald Trump’s first administration, the accords brought the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco into normal relations with Israel. Saudi Arabia had been next on the list.
‘We passed on to the Biden administration that Saudi was ready to go if they engaged,’ said the official. ‘A deal could have been done in six months. We outlined the parameters of their interests and wished them luck. But they didn’t focus on that for a couple of years. Then a lot happened in the region — October 7 and the war in Gaza created a black cloud and shifted sentiment. The mood today is certainly better than it was even a few days ago.’
An official pointed to a range of countries that could be next in line for normalization. ‘I think there’s a lot of opportunity to get back to work on Saudi-Israel normalization, and on Indonesia-Israel,’ the official said. ‘We were talking with Mauritania last time. You’ve got Algeria, Syria, Lebanon. There’s a whole host of countries — and now there are more formal relations with Qatar. We’re going to start that trilateral mechanism very soon.’
Israel began drawing down its troop presence in Gaza on Friday under phase one of the agreement but will continue to occupy roughly 53% of the territory until the next phase. Hamas has 72 hours to release the remaining hostages, living and dead.
Roughly 200 U.S. troops already stationed in the Middle East will be sent to Israel to oversee the ceasefire and ensure humanitarian aid flows into Gaza. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt emphasized ‘Up to 200 U.S. personnel, who are already stationed at CENTCOM, will be tasked with monitoring the peace agreement in Israel, and they will work with other international forces on the ground.’
Saudi Arabia has long insisted that normalization with Israel must be tied to tangible progress toward Palestinian statehood — though that condition has never been clearly defined. The kingdom is also seeking a formal U.S. defense assurance as part of any broader regional deal.
The U.S.-brokered 20-point ceasefire proposal stops short of guaranteeing Palestinian statehood but suggests that, as Gaza reconstruction proceeds and the Palestinian Authority reasserts control in the enclave, ‘the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognize as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.’
An administration official acknowledged that the agreement remains fragile and that deep mistrust persists between Israel, Hamas and other Arab governments.
‘It was important for [Trump] to send another message to the Arab mediators — and through them to Hamas,’ the official said. ‘He wanted them to know he was standing behind every principle and aspect of the Trump 20-point plan for peace, guaranteeing that everyone involved would act in good faith and keep their commitments.’
‘There’s just a lot of mistrust between the Israelis and Hamas, and also among some of the other Arab governments,’ the official added. ‘For all the obvious reasons.’
This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
White House turns to expanding Abraham Accords after Israel-Hamas ceasefire](https://majortradeflow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/GettyImages-1272675620-800x450-1.jpg)

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<p>Investing.com — The Philippine peso is approaching a record low as the country’s central bank, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), plans further interest rate cuts amid slowing economic growth. <span style="color: rgb(13, 13, 13);">The BSP’s next decision is expected on February 13.</span></p>
<p>According to Bloomberg News, financial institutions such as <span itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Corporation"><span itemprop="name"> Goldman Sachs Group </span></span> Inc (NYSE:<span class="aqPopupWrapper js-hover-me-wrapper">GS</span>)., <span itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Corporation"><span itemprop="name"> Barclays </span></span> (LON:<span class="aqPopupWrapper js-hover-me-wrapper">BARC</span>) Plc, and Fitch Solutions predict the peso could reach the 60-per-dollar mark by midyear. </p>
<p>On Monday, the currency was trading at 58.420, close to the historic low of 59 per dollar reached in December.</p>
<p>Asian markets are feeling the impact of a strong dollar as investors consider the effects of Donald Trump’s presidency in the US. A measure of Asian currencies reached a decade low against the dollar earlier this month, although it has since recovered some of its losses.</p>
<p>The peso has been particularly affected, falling 2.4% since the BSP began reducing interest rates, outpacing regional counterparts and the Federal Reserve. The BSP has intervened in the foreign-exchange market to limit the currency’s volatility, decreasing rates by a total of 75 basis points since August. </p>
<p>The bank is prepared to continue reducing rates, although potentially at a slower pace due to geopolitical tensions and uncertainties surrounding US policy. </p>
<p><em>This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.</em></p>
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<div>This post appeared first on investing.com</div>
<br> Philippine peso nears record low as central bank plans rate cuts](https://majortradeflow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/forex_2_800x533_L_1411898837.jpg)

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<p>By Valentina Za, Gianluca Semeraro and Mathieu Rosemain</p>
<p>MILAN (Reuters) -Monte dei Paschi (MPS) CEO Luigi Lovaglio has pulled several all-nighters since arriving in Siena in early 2022, when Italy’s Treasury picked him out to revive the fortunes of the world’s oldest bank, five years after bailing it out.</p>
<p>Back in October 2022 he worked through the night to pull off a share sale, as MPS’s seventh cash call in 14 years sparked last-minute panic among banks underwriting it. MPS struggled to sell shares at 2 euros each back then.</p>
<p>MPS stock traded at 7 euros this week when Lovaglio and his finance chief Andrea Maffezzoni have emerged from two all-nighters that ended in them launching a 13.3 billion euro ($14 billion) all-share takeover bid for larger rival Mediobanca (OTC:<span class="aqPopupWrapper js-hover-me-wrapper">MDIBY</span>), Italy’s historic investment bank.</p>
<p>More than 10 billion euros in cash between 2017 and 2022 have allowed MPS to clean up its balance sheet in time for the bank to seize the profit boost from higher rates and jump on the consolidation train racing through the Italian sector.</p>
<p>MPS, which once threatened to spread contagion across the industry, is bidding for a bank that for decades held sway over Italy’s financial arena.</p>
<p>Lovaglio, 69, appeared conscious of his bold move and sought to strike a conciliatory tone on Friday.</p>
<p>“We don’t want to take any action that can in some way make weaker the powerful organisation that Mediobanca is,” he told analysts.</p>
<p>THE ODD COUPLE</p>
<p>Analysts fretted “the odd couple” of Mediobanca and MPS had in common little more than two significant shareholders: Delfin, the holding company of late billionaire Leonardo Del Vecchio, and fellow tycoon Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone. </p>
<p>International funds have piled into MPS over the past two years as the Treasury cut its stake to 11.7% from 68%. The surprise bid sparked a sell-off, with MPS shares closing down 7%.</p>
<p>A person involved in the deal said advisers UBS and JPMorgan would set to work to explain the deal to investors and dispel concerns it could just reflect the shareholders’ secret agenda.</p>
<p>Delfin and Caltagirone also own stakes in Italian insurer Generali (BIT:<span class="aqPopupWrapper js-hover-me-wrapper">GASI</span>), and have for years accused Mediobanca CEO Alberto Nagel of relying excessively on income from Mediobanca’s stake in Generali.</p>
<p>Delfin and Caltagirone this week opposed Generali’s asset management tie-up with France’s Natixis Investment Managers. </p>
<p>They found an ally in the government, which is concerned about savings shifting outside of Italy.</p>
<p>At the same time, the government’s resolve to help build a third big banking group in Italy to rival Intesa Sanpaolo (OTC:<span class="aqPopupWrapper js-hover-me-wrapper">ISNPY</span>) and UniCredit strengthened. </p>
<p>Rome had thought it was headed in the right direction when in November it sold shares in MPS to Banco BPM, Italy’s third largest lender, as well as Delfin and Caltagirone. </p>
<p>But late last year, UniCredit made a surprise bid for Banco BPM, thwarting Treasury’s efforts to encourage, with help from Delfin and Caltagirone, a tie-up between MPS and BPM.</p>
<p>SACRED</p>
<p>Lovaglio on Friday said he had presented Mediobanca as a merger option for MPS to Italy’s economy minister back in December 2022, alongside plans for more plain-vanilla tie-ups with peers.</p>
<p>Since then, it had become widely known that mid-sized rivals Banco BPM and BPER were potential candidates for MPS.</p>
<p>Only the recent emergence of Delfin and Caltagirone as major MPS investors put Mediobanca on the map of potential deals.</p>
<p>A person involved in the bid’s preparation said that Mediobanca was “such a sacred name” in Italian finance that it was natural to keep any tie-up ambitions secret until they could have a chance of success.</p>
<p>Rome on Friday threw its support behind MPS’s bid for Mediobanca, with two people close to the matter saying the Natixis-Generali combination may have played a role in cementing the government’s support for the plan.</p>
<p>A third person involved in the bid, however, said Lovaglio’s reasons for the deal were purely industrial and based on the need to find MPS a partner and how complementary the two businesses could be. </p>
<p>“We’re besides ourselves,” a senior MPS employee at a Siena branch told Reuters on condition of anonymity. “This deal would be so perfect for our franchise.” </p>
<p>So far, however, Mediobanca CEO Nagel has rebuffed attempts to open a dialogue with MPS and is preparing to fight against the offer, two people with knowledge of the matter said. </p>
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<p>Mediobanca has not commented on the bid.</p>
<p>($1 = 0.9541 euros)</p>
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<div>This post appeared first on investing.com</div>
<br> How Italy’s MPS went from near collapse to bid for revered merchant bank](https://majortradeflow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/LYNXNPEL0N0V5_L.jpg)


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<p>Investing.com — Universal Music Group (AS:<span class="aqPopupWrapper js-hover-me-wrapper">UMG</span>) and Spotify (NYSE:<span class="aqPopupWrapper js-hover-me-wrapper">SPOT</span>) have announced a new multi-year deal for recorded music and publishing, the companies announced in a Sunday statement.</p>
<p>The agreement includes a direct license between Spotify and UMG, spanning the US and several other countries, they said.</p>
<p>“Under the new agreements, UMG and Spotify will collaborate closely to advance the next era of streaming innovation,” the statement writes.</p>
<p>“Artists, songwriters and consumers will benefit from new and evolving offers, new paid subscription tiers, bundling of music and non-music content, and a richer audio and visual content catalog.”</p>
<p>UMG shares jumped 5% in European trading while Spotify’s US-listed shares fell 3% in premarket trading Monday.</p>
<p><span itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Corporation"><span itemprop="name"> Morgan Stanley </span></span> (NYSE:<span class="aqPopupWrapper js-hover-me-wrapper">MS</span>) analysts said the early renewal of the UMG-Spotify partnership represents “a positive catalyst” for the world’s largest music label “and a broader affirmation of the music industry’s alignment to improve monetization throughout the value chain.”</p>
<p>“We see the early renewal of the deal, along with heavily-trailed prospects for super-premium tiers at digital streaming platforms (DSPs), as helping to underpin the average revenue per user (ARPU) element within UMG’s guidance for 8-10% subscription growth.”</p>
<p>Spotify’s CEO Daniel Ek said that the partnership would drive innovation, enhancing the appeal of music subscriptions to audiences worldwide.</p>
<p>Over the past year, the Swedish streaming giant has reduced its workforce, scaled back its podcast offerings, and cut marketing expenses as part of efforts to improve profitability.</p>
<p>Moreover, it has increased the prices of its US subscription plans to leverage strong demand for its premium services.</p>
<p>Earlier this month, UMG announced that Pershing Square, led by billionaire Bill Ackman, has requested a US secondary listing for the record label. In November, Ackman expressed plans to relocate both his investment firm and UMG, but his earlier request to delist from <span itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Corporation"><span itemprop="name"> Euronext </span></span> (EPA:<span class="aqPopupWrapper js-hover-me-wrapper">ENX</span>) Amsterdam was denied.</p>
<p>Pershing Square, which reduced its UMG stake to 7.48%, can request a US listing if it sells at least $500 million worth of shares. However, UMG argued this does not require delisting from Amsterdam or a US relocation.</p>
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<div>This post appeared first on investing.com</div>
<br> UMG shares rally after new multi-year pact with Spotify](https://majortradeflow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/UniversalMusicGroup_800x533_L_1631607547.jpg)