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- President Donald Trump signed an executive order easing limits on diesel normally reserved for off-road use.
- On Truth Social, Trump continued to blame Ukraine’s attacks on Russian refineries for driving up fuel prices.
- Bond market contagion concerns are rising in Europe, with a warning from France’s central bank chief and calls for the ECB to put quantitative tightening on hold.
- U.S. Treasury yields remain elevated, with 10-year at peaks not seen since 2002.
- The Nasdaq posts a fresh record high, driven up by Nvidia, Tesla and SpaceX.
US President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. Samuel Corum | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Hello, this is Leonie Kidd coming to you from London. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.
The price at the pump is a point of pain.
And with the midterm elections less than a month away, President Trump has turned to executive orders to try and ease the pressure on American consumers.
Read on for more.
What you need to know today
U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order allowing so-called “red diesel” to be used more widely, in a bid to ease price pressure at the pump. Speaking during a rally in Nebraska, Trump said the fuel — normally reserved for off-road agricultural and construction use — could be used more widely on American public roads and highways. He claimed this would cut costs “substantially.”
On Truth Social, he argued that fuel costs were not being driven up by supply disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, and once again blamed Ukraine and attacks on Russian refineries.
Trump offers Russia help
Trump has offered to help Russia following the death of a worker at a plague institute in Siberia that has caused global concern of a wider outbreak.
“We encourage Russian authorities to share accurate information quickly and openly,” a State Department spokesperson who did not wish to be identified told CNBC.
For more on what we know so far about this case, you can read on here.
Bonded by volatility
Contagion concerns are keeping European bond investors on edge, after the Governor of France’s central bank told the Financial Times that the country is at risk of being “strangled by interest rates.” In a separate op-ed for the paper, former ECB board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said its time for the central bank to pause its quantitative tightening programme.
Meanwhile, in the U.K., Prime Minister Andy Burnham is “in hock to the bond market,” according to his informal advisor and former Chief Economist of the Bank of England, Andy Haldane.
Catch that exclusive interview on “Squawk Box Europe” here.
Stateside, Treasury yields are holding at elevated levels, with the 10-year at a fresh 2002 high, while the 30-year hit its highest peak in 24 years.
Fresh record highs
Despite surging yields, U.S. stocks are still hitting record levels. The Nasdaq posted a fresh high on Monday, driven by sharp gains for Nvidia, Tesla and SpaceX.
These moves helped return Elon Musk to trillionaire status, after SpaceX shares hit levels not seen since mid-June, shortly after the IPO.
Futures for major U.S. markets and Europe are edging higher ahead of the open on Tuesday, after a broadly positive handover from Asia.
— Leonie Kidd
And Finally…
Russian gold floods Hong Kong as Western sanctions redraw bullion trade
Russian gold is pouring into Hong Kong at a record pace, highlighting how Western sanctions have rerouted bullion bound for London toward China and other Asian markets.
Hong Kong imported 112.7 tonnes of Russian-origin gold in the first seven months of 2026, according to precious metals investment firm BullionVault’s analysis of data from the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department.
Imports have already surpassed the record 92.1 tonnes imported during all of 2025, and compares with just 3.3 tonnes in 2021, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
— Lee Ying Shan
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