Dear Reader,

Today's overview of economic news and market action

• There was a relatively quiet tart to the week on markets …
• Oil prices fell sharply by circa 5%, with Brent back below $75 per barrel …
• Currency-wise, the dollar firmed overnight …
• This sees EUR/USD open today back below $1.09 …
• GBP/USD is in the bottom half of $1.30-1.31 …
• EUR/GBP remains at the midpoint of 83-83p …
• Today, Eurozone industrial production (Aug) are due …

All rates quoted are indicative market rates.

Budget 2025 is set against exceptional budget surpluses. The starting point is a nearly €24bn surplus in 2024, including windfall proceeds from Apple Judgement of €14bn this year. The budget surplus is forecast to be €23.7bn in 2024 (7.5% of GNI*), and €9.7bn in 2025 (2.9% of GNI*). However, excluding windfall receipts, the Government will run significant deficits in the coming years

Irish manufacturers experienced another decline in new work during September, driven by the fastest fall in export sales for five months. Subdued customer demand led to a renewed decline in production volumes and cutbacks to staffing numbers.

Irish services activity increased at the strongest rate in six months in September as cost pressures eased, the latest AIB PMI® survey data showed. Growth of both new business and employment moderated, coming in slightly below their long-run trends, but outstanding work increased solidly and the 12-month outlook rebounded since August.