Business & Markets — October 17, 2026

Walmart fuel costs erase tariff refund. Walmart says higher diesel costs will wipe out the $2.9 billion tariff refund it planned to use for lower prices by end of 2027, per Deutsche Bank.

The retailer had intended to pass the refund through to customers in the form of reduced prices, according to Deutsche Bank. Business Insider frames the shift as evidence of how rising diesel prices are squeezing retail operations more broadly, with transportation expenses consuming funds that were earmarked for other purposes. The analysis suggests fuel costs have become a significant enough headwind to alter the company's pricing plans through 2027.

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Tech selloff hits software and chips alike. Software and semiconductor stocks fell together Friday on AI and interest-rate concerns, an unusual joint decline for sectors that have traded independently this year.

For much of the year, investors rotated between the two groups, with weakness in one often offset by strength in the other, according to MarketWatch. Friday's simultaneous decline removed that cushion, leaving few places within technology for investors to shelter. The dual pressures cited were doubts about artificial intelligence spending and worries over the direction of interest rates, which weighed on both growth-oriented software names and chipmakers at once.

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KFC drops Pepsi for Coca-Cola. KFC is ending its 37-year partnership with PepsiCo for a multi-market Coca-Cola deal worth considerably more than drink sales alone.

The agreement spans multiple markets rather than a single country, according to Inc., which reports the value extends well beyond beverage revenue itself. Fountain-drink contracts at major fast-food chains typically carry marketing and co-promotion benefits for the beverage maker, making the loss of a nearly four-decade account a notable shift in the competitive balance between the two soda giants in the restaurant channel.

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Brent crude touches $110. Brent hit $110 per barrel Friday for the first time since May. Attacks struck a record 12 vessels near the Strait of Hormuz in a week, and Ukraine vowed renewed refinery strikes.

The price move reflects two simultaneous supply threats, per CNBC. The Strait of Hormuz is a chokepoint for seaborne oil shipments, and the week's vessel strikes marked the highest weekly total on record, raising shipping risk through the waterway. Separately, Ukraine's pledge to resume strikes on Russian refineries threatens refined-product output. Together the developments pushed Brent to a level not seen in roughly six months.

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