International News and Market Update: Southwest Airlines cancels 1800 flights

• European markets closed lower Friday afternoon after a rollercoaster week for global equity markets as investors digested a poor U.S. jobs report. The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended 0.2% lower, with auto stocks up 1.2%, while technology stocks slipped 1.3% to lead the losses. Stellantis is reportedly considering spinning off two Opel plants in Germany, one of which will temporarily close next week due to a global semiconductor shortage. Germany’s trade balance for August was a seasonally adjusted positive 13 billion euros ($15 billion), slightly below the forecast of 15.8 billion euros.

• The Dow was little changed on Friday, posting a winning week as optimism over a near-term debt ceiling deal trumped a disappointing jobs report. Friday’s jobs report had something for both the bears and the bulls, which explains the swings in stock prices after the release. The report was a major disappointment as the economy added just 194,000 jobs in September. September increases, according to the Labor Department. That was well below the Dow Jones estimate of 500,000.

• Stocks in the Asia-Pacific region were mostly higher in early morning trading, with shares in Hong Kong leading the region’s gains. Shares of Meituan in Hong Kong were up more than 7%. China’s market regulator had announced on Friday that it had fined the company 3.4 billion Chinese yuan ($527.71 million) after finding it guilty of monopolistic practices.

Southwest Airlines cancels 1,800 flights, blames weather and staffing

Southwest Airlines cancelled more than 1,800 flights this weekend, throwing thousands of customers’ travel plans into disarray. The airline blamed a combination of bad weather, air traffic control and staffing shortages for the breakdown. The airline said the initial problems were due to bad weather and an “air traffic management programme” imposed by the FAA. Other airlines cancelled relatively few flights. Southwest did not comment on the discrepancy.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX hits $100 billion valuation after second stock sale

The valuation of Elon Musk’s SpaceX has surpassed $100 billion after a stock sale announced this week by existing investors, CNBC has learned. SpaceX reached an agreement with new and existing investors to sell up to $755 million worth of shares from insiders at $560 per share, according to several people familiar with the matter. That brought the company’s valuation to $100.3 billion. The company has not raised any new capital at this time, the sources said, with the tender offer representing a secondary sale of existing shares. The new share price is a 33% increase from SpaceX’s last valuation of $74 billion at $419.99 per share in February, when the company raised nearly $1.2 billion.