HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam is split between two visions: the rumbling, reliable gas-powered motorbikes that now rule the roads, and sleek, silent electric bikes the government says are its future.

Hanoi plans to ban fossil-fuel motorcycles from its city center in July 2026, part of a national drive to cut emissions and air pollution. Its commercial capital, Ho Chi Minh City, is weighing a similar step. By 2030, Vietnam aims for a third of cars and more than a fifth of motorbikes to run on electricity.

Some see this as an opportunity to swap out smoke-belching engines for cleaner, quieter rides, But others remain wary. Gas-powered bikes are still cheaper, sturdier, and easier to repair. Many owners worry that electric models could fall short on range, affordability, and charging convenience.

At the heart of the debate is the motorbike’s central place in Vietnamese life. The country’s 77 million two-wheelers — including 7 million in Hanoi and 8.5 million in Ho Chi Minh City — power small businesses, shape daily commerce, and set the rhythm of cities. Shopkeepers pile goods onto scooters to push through traffic, while families squeeze three generations onto a single bike for the school run.

While delivery drivers and mechanics are scrambling, electric bike start ups are opening new retail stores and e-bike sales are climbing.

Vietnam’s biggest motorbike makers, Honda and Yamaha, say the 2026 timeline is too ambitious. Vietnamese electric vehicle companies — start ups like Dat Bike or the larger VinFast, backed by Vietnam’s largest conglomerate VinGroup — and the Chinese electric bikemaker Yadea are betting on an electric future.

Ta Manh Cuong, 45, a ride-hailing driver who earns about $20 on good days, calls his battered but reliable motorbike his “iron horse,” a slang riders use for their faithful companion through the city’s daily chaos. He’d be willing to shift to an electric bike, would even welcome it if it cost less.

“But right now I can’t afford to buy an electric bike,” he said.

Vietnam’s motorbike market, at about 3.5 million units a year, is the second-largest in Southeast Asia. It’s also among the most electrified markets for two-wheelers, ranking third only to China and India, though electric motorbikes make up about 12% of total sales.

Electrifying remaining two-wheelers is key for cutting tailpipe emissions and clearing smog from the streets. EVs are more energy efficient than gas engines, said Zifei Yang of the International Council on Clean Transportation. About 70,000 deaths in Vietnam each year are linked to polluted air, according to the Boston-based nonprofit Health Effects Institute.

Unlike the car market, Yang added, motorbikes sold in Vietnam are made there. That means a shift to electric bikes could boost local producers, foster startups, and attract new investment. Vietnam’s transition could also shape other developing markets.

“These countries look at each other. Look at the experience,” she said.

Electric motorbike sales have surged since the ban was announced, with purchases of smaller bikes up 89% and full-sized bikes 197% in the first eight months of 2025. VinFast led as its sales more than quadrupled, outpacing Yadea and other local rivals, according to industry tracker MotorcyclesData.

Yang said government subsidies to scrap old motorbikes could help riders like Cuong. While better public transport in crowded city centers would also encourage the shift to electric vehicles. She added that ride-hailing fleets stand to gain too since they travel longer distances and electric bikes could help them save on fuel. Stations where riders can replace depleted batteries with a fully charged one instead of waiting for it to recharge would also help.

Yang said smaller batteries make home charging easier, battery costs are falling globally, and EVs are no more fire-prone than older vehicles, though such fires need special training and strict safety standards.

Ho Chi Minh City plans to replace 400,000 gasoline motorbikes with electric ones by 2028, starting with a 2026 ban on using gas bikes for ride-hailing and delivery. The city will offer low-interest loans, tax breaks and set up low-emission zones to curb pollution. In Hanoi, people affected by the ban can get $120–$200 in subsidies to buy electric bikes worth at least $590, depending on income, and won’t have to pay new registration or license plate fees until 2030.

VinFast looks set to profit from the transition. Its ride-hailing company, Green SM, surpassed Singapore-based regional ride-hailing firm Grab in February to become the market leader in Vietnam. It soon will launch its first battery‑swapping electric motorbike, selling for about $760. It plans, also, to build 150,000 battery-swapping stations nationwide within three years.

VinFast is partnering with Vietnamese banks to offer low‑interest loans and subsidies to boost electric vehicle adoption, including covering up to 90% of costs and waiving registration fees.

These policies and incentives can encourage more purchases of electric motorbikes, said Dat Bike CEO and founder Son Nguyen, but long-term success hinges on making electric bikes that deliver high performance, long ranges and fast charging at prices equal to or better than gas-guzzling motorbikes. “Incentives can help add momentum, but long-term success depends on building products that win on their own merits,” he said.

Dat Bike raised $22 million in September from private investors, nearly doubling its capital to $47 million. The company said it will use the funding to boost production, research and expand its sales.

Honda dominates Vietnam’s motorcycle market with a more than 80% market share. It sold about 2.3 million bikes in Vietnam from April 2024 to March 2025 and exported 300,000 more, cementing the country as both a top market and a key production hub.

Yamaha trails with about a 17% share. Through Vietnam’s manufacturers’ association, the two companies said the 2026 ban is too rushed. Honda only began selling e-bikes this year and warned that replacing millions of bikes quickly would strain consumers.

Honda and the Vietnam’s motorcycle manufacturers’ association didn’t respond to requests for comment. Yamaha told The Associated Press that it was reviewing the plan and couldn’t respond yet.

For now, many businesses are hedging their bets. Bao Ngoc Cao, who rents motorbikes to expats and tourists, said she was “terrified” when she first heard about the ban. Her business runs on the principle that bikes are cheap — costing about $80 monthly. Losing access to Hanoi’s most touristy streets would cut her off from her core customers, and while interest in EVs is growing, current subsidies aren’t nearly enough for her to replace her fleet. Still, she says she supports the ban in principle, welcoming the promise of cleaner air and healthier streets.

“We are just waiting to get more clarity and see what happens,” she said.

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian markets surged Monday after Wall Street finished a winning week, overcoming worries over bank lending and the trade war with China.

U.S. futures edged higher while oil prices fell.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 2.9%, to 48,970.40, setting a new record, after its governing Liberal Democrats found a new coalition partner, securing support for its leader Sanae Takaichi to become the country’s first female prime minister.

Takaichi is expected to push for market-supporting policies such as low interest rates and higher government spending.

China reported its economy grew at a 4.8% annual pace in the last quarter, supported by relatively strong exports as companies increased shipments markets other than the U.S.

Still, it was the slowest pace in a year. The world’s second largest economy is still struggling to emerge from a prolonged downturn in its property market and to encourage consumers and businesses to spend more.

China’s ruling Commumist Party leadership convened a meeting Monday in Beijing that is expected to set policy goals for the coming five years and also tackle personnel changes.

The outcome of the closed door meeting this week will likely emerge gradually and be formally endorsed at the annual session of the national legislature in early March.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 2.5% to 25,884.81, while the Shanghai Composite index added 0.7% to 3,866.77.

In South Korea, the Kospi surged 1.3% to 3,796.64, setting another record on hopes for a trade deal with Washington and strong demand for semiconductors. SK Hynix gained 3.3% while automakers Kia Corp. rose 2.7% and Hyundai Motor Co. climbed 2.5%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2% to 9,009.10.

On Friday, U.S. stocks cruised higher after banks recovered some of their sharp losses from the day before.

The S&P 500 rose 0.5% to 6,664.01. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5% to 46,190.61 and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.5% to 22,679.97.

It was the best week for the S&P 500 since early August,.

Some of the nervousness around U.S.-China trade tensions eased on Friday after President Donald Trump said that very high tariffs he threatened to put on Chinese imports are not sustainable.

Trump also told Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” that he would meet with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, at an upcoming conference in South Korea. That’s counter to an earlier, angry posting he made on social media, where he said there seemed to be “no reason” for such a meeting.

Bank stocks, meanwhile, stabilized on Friday after several reported stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, including Truist Financial, Fifth Third Bancorp and Huntington Bancshares.

Zions Bancorp., which is charging off $50 million of loans where it found “apparent misrepresentations and contractual defaults” by the borrowers, climbed 5.8% following a 13.1% loss on Thursday.

Western Alliance Bancorp, which is suing a borrower due to allegations of fraud, rose 3.1% after a 10.8% fall on Thursday.

The quality of loans that banks and other lenders have made is under scruntiny following last month’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing of First Brands Group, a supplier of aftermarket auto parts.

The question is whether the lenders’ problems are just a collection of one-offs or a signal of something larger threatening the industry. Uncertainty is high following a long stretch where many borrowers were able to stay in business, even with the weight of higher interest rates. And with prices soaring to records for all kinds of investments, the appetite for risk may have gotten too high.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon addressed the issue on an earnings conference call with analysts earlier this week.

“When you see one cockroach, there are probably more,” Dimon said. “Everyone should be forewarned on this one.”

In other dealings early Monday, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 19 cents to $56.96 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, also gave up 19 cents, to $61.10 a barrel.

The U.S. dollar rose to 150.87 Japanese yen from 150.59 yen. The euro climbed to $1.1667 from $1.1651.

(Reuters) -U.S.-based electronic components distributor Arrow Electronics said on Saturday the U.S. government was reversing trade restrictions placed on Arrow’s China-based affiliates for facilitating the sale of U.S. components found in weaponized drones used by Iran-backed groups like the Houthis.

Arrow (China) Electronics Trading Co and another Arrow entity with six aliases in Hong Kong were added to the Commerce Department’s Entity List on October 8 in a Federal Register posting.

Licenses are required to export goods and technology to companies on the list and are likely to be denied. Firms are placed on the list over U.S. national security or foreign policy interests.

On October 8, Commerce said that drones operated by Iran-backed groups and their debris recovered in the Middle East since 2017 had U.S. components traced to sales tied to these Arrow-related entities.

Arrow said on Saturday the Commerce Department told it the department would soon publish the reversal in the U.S. Federal Register and sent a letter Friday removing the restrictions in the meantime.

“We have received official communication from the U.S. Commerce Department,” Arrow spokesman John Hourigan said in an email. “Arrow is authorized to resume shipping to and from these entities under the same conditions that applied prior to October 8.”

Asked about the matter, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security said in an email: “BIS is committed to ensuring that export restrictions are appropriately targeted to protect national security.”

Hourigan said the company operates in compliance with all laws and regulations. Centennial, Colorado-based Arrow Electronics had global 2024 sales of $28 billion.

Hourigan said that Arrow Electronics (Hong Kong) Co. Ltd, which he described as a subsidiary when it was added to the Entity List, was not actually affiliated with Arrow Electronics.

However, the six aliases tied to the Hong Kong company in the Federal Register posting are affiliated with Arrow and, the company said, would be removed from the Entity List.

China’s economy probably grew at the slowest in a year during the third quarter despite a boom in exports, in a disconnect the Communist Party may move to rectify at a key meeting in the coming week.

As trade tensions escalate with the US, weakness in investment, industrial output and retail sales is undermining momentum from record sales abroad. Data due on Monday from China’s National Bureau of Statistics will show gross domestic product rose 4.7% in the quarter from a year earlier, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey, down from 5.2% in the prior three months.

Retail sales are forecast to have expanded 3% in September and industrial output to have climbed by 5% — the weakest outcomes this year for both.

Meanwhile, fixed-asset investment is forecast to have slowed again in the first nine months, to be unchanged from a year earlier. It’s been plunging since May despite a massive expansion in government borrowing meant to support the spending power of local authorities. Public spending on infrastructure hasn’t been enough, though, to make up for a slump in housing investment and the slowdown in money going to manufacturing.

Foreign firms have also been pulling back on outlays, with inbound new foreign direct investment down almost 13% in the first eight months, putting China on track for three straight years of declines. One bright spot is foreign demand, with the goods trade balance so far this year hitting a record $875 billion, according to the latest figures.

The economic fragility sets the tone for the upcoming gathering of party officials at the so-called fourth plenum in Beijing. The huddle will provide clues on their priorities for 2026-2030, as governments and investors around the world call for a rebalancing of China’s economy toward domestic consumption.

What Bloomberg Economics Says:

“Beijing now faces deep structural headwinds — from fading growth drivers to a protracted property downturn and entrenched deflation — unlike the severe, yet temporary pandemic shocks during the last five-year planning stage. With the US ratcheting up trade and tech restrictions, the external environment has also turned sharply adverse. This time, the transition is no longer a distant goal — it’s imperative.”

—Chang Shu, chief Asia economist. For full analysis, click here

The IMF, which just kept its prediction for China’s 2025 growth at 4.8%, expects a slowdown next year to 4.2% — an outlook in line with the median forecasts of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The fund warned that “China’s prospects remain weak,” saying “real estate investment continues to shrink while the economy teeters on the verge of a debt-deflation cycle.”

“Rebalancing toward household consumption — including through fiscal measures with a greater focus on social spending and the property sector — and scaling back industrial policies would reduce external surpluses and alleviate domestic deflationary pressures,” the IMF officials said in their global economic outlook.

Meanwhile, investors will be watching for any developments on rare earths after China unveiled broad new curbs on its exports of such materials. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he’ll meet with his Chinese counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng, this week.

Elsewhere, inflation data from Japan to the UK, purchasing manager indexes from major economies, and the first summary of a meeting by Swiss central bank officials will be among the highlights.

Click here for what happened in the past week, and below is our wrap of what’s coming up in the global economy.

US and Canada

After being delayed by the US government shutdown, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release of the September consumer price index on Friday. The data, originally slated for Oct. 15, will give Federal Reserve officials a critical piece of information on inflation ahead of their policy meeting the following week.

Economists in a Bloomberg survey forecast the core CPI, which excludes food and fuel for a better snapshot of underlying inflation, to have climbed 0.3% for a third straight month as higher import duties continue to gradually filter through to consumers. The projected monthly gain will keep the annual core CPI at 3.1%.

While most official economic data releases have been delayed, BLS staff were called in despite the shutdown to prepare the September CPI report, which informs next year’s cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security recipients.

Although inflation is stuck above their goal, Fed officials are expected to announce their second rate cut of the year following a two-day meeting on Oct. 28-29 because of the fragile labor market.

Among private-sector economic data on the agenda, a National Association of Realtors report on Thursday will probably show contract closings on purchases of previously owned homes stayed tepid in September. An S&P Global PMI release on Friday is projected to illustrate modest growth in manufacturing and services activity.

• For more, read Bloomberg Economics’ full Week Ahead for the US

Asia

Apart from the busy week in China, Japan reports national CPI figures on Friday expected to show that consumer inflation remained well above the Bank of Japan’s target in September, while purchasing manager indexes the same day may show manufacturing activity shrinking for a fourth straight month, even as services marked a full year of expansion.

India’s September PMI figures will likely show manufacturing activity remains robust. New Zealand reports quarterly inflation data, while Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong release September CPI.

Monthly trade data are due from New Zealand, Thailand and Japan, while South Korea will release 20-day trade statistics for October.

On the policy front, China is likely to hold its 1- and 5-year loan prime rates steady on Monday. Bank Indonesia will mull another cut to its benchmark rate on Wednesday as it weighs benign inflation against the weakening rupiah.

A day later, the Bank of Korea is expected to hold its base rate steady at 2.50% while possibly foreshadowing a cut in November as inflation stays subdued and economic growth cools. Uzbekistan sets rate policy on Thursday.

• For more, read Bloomberg Economics’ full Week Ahead for Asia

Europe, Middle East, Africa

The week’s highlight may be the initial reading of October purchasing manager indexes across western Europe.

These will reveal how manufacturing and services companies in Germany, France and the UK assessed the activity at the start of the fourth quarter, pointing to any momentum — or lack thereof — at a time when President Donald Trump’s tariffs are squeezing exports to the US.

In terms of hard data, Britain may draw the most attention. Public finance numbers on Tuesday will inform Chancellor Rachel Reeves as she prepares for a fraught budget in November.

Inflation the following day will be crucial both for Reeve’s plans and the Bank of England, which is inching toward further rate cuts while nervously monitoring still-strong price pressures. The data are likely to show acceleration to 4%, the fastest in 1 1/2 years.

Boeing can hike 737 MAX production to 42 planes per month after the Federal Aviation Administration lifted a 38-plane-per-month cap that had been in place since January 2024, the agency and planemaker said on Friday.

The FAA imposed the unprecedented production cap shortly after a 2024 mid-air emergency involving a new Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 that was missing four key bolts.

The announcement is a significant milestone for the U.S. planemaker, which was plunged into a safety crisis following the mid-air incident.

The FAA said on Friday its safety inspectors “conducted extensive reviews of Boeing’s production lines to ensure that this small production rate increase will be done safely.”

FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford called Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg on Friday to confirm the planemaker could raise the rate to 42 planes, a person briefed on the matter said.

Boeing plans to quickly begin producing planes at a rate of 42 per month.

Boeing said it appreciated “the work by our team, our suppliers and the FAA to ensure we are prepared to increase production with safety and quality at the forefront.”

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com

President Donald Trump said he was commuting the sentence of former Republican lawmaker George Santos, who was convicted and sentenced to prison for stealing campaign funds.

“George Santos was somewhat of a ‘rogue,’ but there are many rogues throughout our Country that aren’t forced to serve seven years in prison,” Trump said in a social media post on Friday. “Therefore, I just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY. Good luck George, have a great life!”

Trump alleged, without providing any evidence, that Santos had been “horribly mistreated” while in prison.

Santos, a former US Representative from New York, was sentenced to serve seven years and three months in prison earlier this year. Prosecutors initially charged Santos with 23 counts of wire fraud, money laundering and theft of public funds. He pleaded guilty in August 2024 to two counts of wire fraud and identity theft just weeks before his trial.

As part of the plea deal, Santos confessed to a wide range of conduct, including filing bogus reports with the Federal Election Commission, embezzling campaign funds, charging credit cards without authorization and fraudulently obtaining unemployment benefits.

A spokesperson for the US attorney’s office in Brooklyn that prosecuted Santos declined to comment on Trump’s announcement.

The onetime rising Republican star, who gained notoriety for falsely claiming to have worked for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc., served in Congress for less than a year.

Santos’ political career began to unwind following revelations that he had lied about his resume and much of his life story during his campaign to represent a congressional district on Long Island. He was expelled after a US House ethics probe substantiated allegations of theft and deceit.

He was sentenced in April of this year and began serving his sentence in July.

Earlier: Trump Commutes Sentence of Former GOP Lawmaker George Santos

Trump in his second term has offered clemency to a number of people convicted of white-collar offenses, including some prominent business figures. The president has also notably used his clemency powers to come to the defense of allies, such as Santos — who was a staunch Trump loyalist, and moved to carry through on threats to punish those he sees as political opponents.

The announcement of Santos’ clemency came hours after former national security adviser John Bolton pleaded not guilty to charges that he allegedly mishandled classified materials.

Bolton, who served in Trump’s first term before becoming one of his fiercest critics, is the latest of the president’s perceived enemies to face charges. Former FBI director James Comey was indicted for allegedly lying to lawmakers, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, accused of violations tied to alleged mortgage fraud. Comey and James have denied wrongdoing.

American consumers are struggling under the weight of soaring auto loan debt.

Auto delinquencies are up more than 50% since 2010 and have transitioned from the safest to riskiest consumer commercial credit product in that time frame, according to a Friday report from VantageScore.

Here’s why: record-breaking car prices, higher maintenance and insurance costs, and elevated interest rates. Longer term loans are also to blame.

“The bigger picture: the auto market is a bellwether for household financial health,” the report says. “A sustained climb in auto delinquencies signals deeper affordability challenges across the consumer economy.”

The country is seeing “the most precarious consumer credit health situation since the last financial crisis,” said VantageScore Chief Economist Rikard Bandebo.

“More and more people are struggling to make ends meet,” Bandebo added.

Delinquencies among other loan categories, like credit cards and first mortgages, have declined since the first quarter of 2010, making autos a bit of an outlier, VantageScore said.

High car prices are a big culprit. The average transaction price of a new vehicle floated above $50,000 in September for the first time, likely pushed higher by luxury models and pricey electric vehicles, according to estimates from Kelley Blue Book.

Meanwhile, data released this week from Edmunds, a car shopping website, showed drivers are increasingly underwater when trading in older models for new cars, meaning their original vehicles are worth less than the amount still owed. Drivers carried more than $10,000 worth of debt in almost a quarter of upside-down trade-ins during the third quarter, for example.

Overall, Americans are carrying more than $1.66 trillion in auto debt, with borrowers tumbling into “delinquencies and defaults at a pace that exceeds pre-pandemic levels and rivals the years immediately preceding the 2008 economic crisis,” a report from the Consumer Federation of America said last month.

“We have people that are financing their car loan over eight years, which is something that we hadn’t seen since the Great Recession,” Erin Witte, the director of consumer protection for the Consumer Federation of America, told Yahoo Finance. “Of course, when you’re extending that financing out, you’re paying more and more. And if you trade that car in before the loan term is over, you’re probably going to owe money on it, which is another cascading problem: You’re paying interest twice — it makes the next car more expensive.”

Car repossessions are also up, and the stock market is on edge after the bankruptcies of the subprime auto lender Tricolor and auto parts maker First Brands, with JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon saying that “when you see one cockroach, there’s probably more.”

Michael Brisson, auto economist at Moody’s Analytics, said the rise in delinquencies can also be traced back to auto lenders loosening their credit standards at a time when credit scores were already broadly increasing — thanks to pandemic-era stimulus and relief programs — while car prices were ticking higher. Some consumers looked healthier than they were.

Indeed, economists for the Federal Reserve Board wrote last September that delinquencies were concentrated among more recent loans with borrowers stressed by higher monthly payment amounts.

“The increase in loan amount likely reflects the interactions of both credit supply and demand factors: borrowers demanded larger loans amid the run-up in car prices from mid-2020 to mid-2023 and lenders, in aggregate, appeared to relax their credit standards to originate these loans,” the economists said. Credit standards have tightened more recently, Brisson said. But consumers are still going delinquent, since costs have risen across the board, student loan payments have resumed, and budgets are strained amid a weak job market.

“Auto delinquencies are as high as they’ve been since 2011,” Brisson said. “However, the rate of growth has slowed. They’ve kind of leveled off over the more recent past.”

Still, it’s clear some consumers are feeling strained. Growth in delinquencies among prime borrowers, or those with credit scores between 661 and 780, has been especially stark, though subprime consumers generally have the highest delinquency rates. VantageScore noted that prime- and near-prime consumers have been “driving the overall increase after lenders tightened their lending.”

Brisson said he’s also seen that delinquencies are shooting up among borrowers without credit scores in “the largest increase we’ve seen on records.”

If the unemployment rate remains below 5% and inflation is under control, delinquencies overall will likely ultimately come down, Brisson said.

It’s no secret: The holiday season means major spending, at least as far as U.S. consumers are concerned.

According to Mastercard Economic Institute’s annual forecast, U.S. retail sales are expected to increase 3.6% year over year, and Retail Dive cited Deloitte data indicating growth of between 2.9% and 3.4% year over year — despite the fact that more respondents to an Experian survey indicated they would be curtailing their holiday spending this year as compared with 2024.

You’re Carrying a Credit Card Balance — or Had Your Limit Cut

If you’re carrying a substantial credit card balance, that’s probably a good sign to cut down spending on your gift-giving and hosting duties this holiday season.

The average APR on credit cards with balances incurring interest stood at 22.83% as of August, as Forbes noted, with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau indicating that “credit card issuers have also sharply increased average APRs beyond changes in the prime rate.”

Beyond that, here’s another credit card-related warning sign: Your issuer has cut your credit limit as a precautionary measure (perhaps hurting your credit score due to utilization issues).

You’re Using BNPL as a Crutch — and Maybe Missing Payments
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) services such as Klarna, Affirm and Afterpay are skyrocketing in popularity, having formed partnerships with most major retailers and e-commerce players.

And as a recent LendingTree survey outlined, nearly half (41%) of BNPL loan borrowers indicated they had made at least one late payment over the past year, up from a still-concerning 34% last year.

Of those who do fail to make BNPL payments on time, according to Federal Reserve figures, over half (57%) were charged extra for having been late.

Another warning sign, according to the Fed: a growing cohort of those who say BNPL loans are the only way they can afford a particular purchase. A full 58% of those who used BNPL said as much, with that statistic rising to 72% for those with an income of less than $50,000.

If either of the two circumstances apply to you, it may be time to rethink your upcoming holiday shopping behavior.

Other Key Signs

• Here are some other key signs your finances might not be prepared for a spend-heavy holiday season in 2025:
• You were late on rent recently. Essentials such as utility bills, rent, staple groceries and transportation costs should take precedence.
• You’ve taken a 401(k) hardship withdrawal, or are thinking about doing so. Leveraging your retirement portfolio early in order to fill fiscal gaps is a glaring signal to tighten your overall budget.

ZURICH (Reuters) -Switzerland’s ABB is “very confident” about future demand from data centers that power artificial intelligence, its CEO Morten Wierod told Reuters.

The engineering company has seen double-digit percentage growth this year in orders for electrification products from data centers being built to meet AI and cloud computing demand.

CEO CONFIDENT IN DATA CENTRE DEMAND

“Over the next five years I am very confident about demand from data centers,” Wierod said on Thursday.

“I don’t think there is a bubble, but we do see do see some constraints in terms of construction capacity not keeping up with all the new investments,” he added.

“We are talking about trillions in investment,” he said, adding: “That will take a few years to implement because there is not enough people and resources to build all this.”

AI is only in its early stages, leaving room for growth in data center demand, while many newcomers are joining large tech companies in the sector, Wierod said.

ABB generated some 7% of its revenue from data center business this year, up from 6% in 2024, selling electrification systems, including medium and low voltage switchgear and uninterruptible power solutions to keep servers online.

ABB STRIKES PARTNERSHIP WITH NVIDIA

ABB announced a partnership agreement with chip maker Nvidia earlier this week to develop electrification products for the next generation of chips used in data centers.

“That’s not for 2025 or 2026, it’s more of a long term investment,” Wierod said. “It’s very important to be part of the future technology developments.”

While the majority of ABB’s business is for new-build sites, Wierod also saw opportunities in retro-fitting and upgrading.

“For some of the older, smaller size data centres, you will need to upgrade the racks with equipment, and you also need to have more power coming in,” he said.

“That is a big opportunity,” he added.

Oil held steady near a five-month low amid mixed signals on US President Donald Trump’s push to stop India’s purchases of Russian crude.

West Texas Intermediate was little changed to trade near $58 a barrel after earlier rising by as much as 1.4%. India’s oil refiners said they expect to reduce — not stop — the purchase of Russian crude, a move that could squeeze global supply, following remarks by Trump that the South Asian nation would halt all buying. Still, the market is awaiting clarification on the situation from the government in New Delhi, which didn’t officially confirm or deny Trump’s remarks.

The development took some air out of the earlier rally, with traders newly assured that the halt to India’s imports of Moscow’s crude won’t be immediate. The South Asian country, along with neighbor China, has made the most of discounted Russian supplies accessible under a Group of Seven price cap mechanism that was designed to keep oil flowing while limiting Moscow’s access to funds for its war in Ukraine.

However, senior US officials have accused Indian businesses of profiteering and the purchases have been a main sticking point as New Delhi seeks to fast-track trade talks. Its trade secretary on Wednesday said his nation has the capacity to purchase an additional $15 billion of oil from the US.

Meanwhile, the UK slapped sanctions on Russia’s biggest oil producers, two Chinese energy firms and Indian refiner Nayara Energy Ltd. because of their handling of Russian fuel. Western nations are turning the screws on Russia’s energy sector in a bid to curb the flow of petrodollars to the Kremlin and limit President Vladimir Putin’s ability to finance the war in Ukraine.

Crude has fallen this month as increased trade tensions between the US and China raised concerns about demand in the two biggest crude consumers, and as major trading houses said a long-anticipated oversupply is already starting to emerge.