Quoreka Launches AI-Powered Commodity Sentiment Index

Quoreka, the energy and commodity trading risk management (E/CTRM) solutions provider, has announced the launch of the Quoreka Sentiment Index (QIndex), an AI-driven tool designed to measure real-time global sentiment for the commodity markets. The QIndex is powered by comprehensive news and data feeds supplied by Barchart, the market data and technology provider.

The index utilises artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs) to analyse and quantify sentiment within daily news coverage, generating a score between 0 (negative) and 1 (positive). The system works by scanning global news, filtering articles for relevant information, classifying them by industry, and then applying sentiment analysis to calculate the average daily index value.

This process aims to translate complex global news flow into a straightforward daily metric. The QIndex is intended for use by traders, analysts, and risk managers to help them track shifts in market sentiment at a glance.

SIX Signs Seven-Year Strategic Partnership with Barclays

Financial data provider SIX has signed a seven-year strategic partnership with Barclays. The agreement will provide all divisions of the global banking group, including its investment banking, retail, wealth management, and corporate services, with access to SIX’s comprehensive suite of financial data products. The partnership is intended to support Barclays’ international growth and drive cost efficiencies, aligning with the bank’s wider strategic transformation, with a goal to reduce costs by £2bn by 2026.

The collaboration builds on a longstanding relationship and will see Barclays contributing to the product strategy and development of new data and analytical products from SIX. In return for providing access to services such as real-time market data, wealth management capabilities, and regulatory reporting solutions, the partnership supports SIX’s own plans to expand, by helping strengthen the provider’s presence in key regions like the US and Asia, where Barclays has a significant footprint.

Openmarkets Group Adopts Eventus for Trade Surveillance

Eventus, the trade surveillance and financial risk solutions provider, has announced that Australian wealth management fintech Openmarkets Group (OMG) has adopted the Eventus Validus platform to provide comprehensive trade surveillance across all of its business.

The Validus platform will integrate into Openmarkets’ existing infrastructure to monitor all trading activity. The firm is responsible for clearing more than AUD $2 billion in annualised equities trades each month, spread across over 99,000 accounts.

Openmarkets selected Eventus after considering multiple providers, citing the platform’s advanced automation, cost-efficiency, and the availability of local support in Australia. The ability to customise the platform to generate targeted compliance alerts was also cited as a significant factor in the decision.

Blue Ocean Technologies Integrates Overnight Trading Data with NYSE Cloud Streaming

Capital markets fintech Blue Ocean Technologies has integrated its real-time overnight trading data into the New York Stock Exchange’s (NYSE) Cloud Streaming service. Blue Ocean Technologies is the operator of Blue Ocean ATS, an alternative trading system that facilitates overnight price discovery and trade execution.

The NYSE will add Blue Ocean’s top of book and last sale real-time data as an additional channel, available alongside the existing NYSE Best Quote and Trades (BQT) consolidated market data feed. This collaboration is intended to provide more convenient access to trading and risk management opportunities for investors operating outside of traditional US market hours.

The service particularly targets the Asia Pacific region, where the Blue Ocean trading session overlaps significantly with local business hours. Through this integration, the company aims to add value to its products and services in Asia, which it identifies as a major growth area for market data demand.

ICE Announces Strategic Investment in Prediction Market Platform Polymarket

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) has announced a strategic investment of up to $2 billion in Polymarket, the prediction market and information platform. The investment is based on a pre-investment valuation of approximately $8 billion for Polymarket, which allows users to trade on the probability of events across markets, politics, sport and culture. The consideration will be paid in cash and is not expected to materially impact ICE’s financial results for 2025.

As part of the agreement, ICE will become a global distributor of Polymarket’s event-driven data, providing its customers with sentiment indicators on topics of market relevance. The two companies have also agreed to partner on future tokenisation initiatives.

Founded in 2020 by Shayne Coplan, Polymarket enables users to buy and sell shares of potential outcomes, with trades matched through smart contracts. ICE will provide further details on the investment during its third-quarter earnings call, which is scheduled for 30 October 2025.

Exegy and LDA Technologies Launch Exegy Nexus Appliance for High-Performance Market Data Processing

Exegy, the provider of capital markets technology, has partnered with network solutions specialist LDA Technologies to launch Exegy Nexus, a custom-engineered appliance. The new platform is designed to centralise and scale market data processing, aiming to reduce server count and power consumption for financial firms. It combines FPGA acceleration with embedded Layer 1 switching to deliver high-throughput feed handling and deterministic sub-microsecond latency.

Developed in collaboration with LDA and with input from global banks, brokers, and market makers, the Nexus appliance is built on a new architecture designed by LDA for scalability and efficiency. Its technical features include a high core count AMD Turin platform, support for up to eight FPGA accelerator cards, and embedded Layer 1 Ethernet connectivity for low-latency throughput in a compact 1U or 2U chassis.

The Exegy Nexus appliance is available for order immediately, with production delivery scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2025.

OTCX Partners with BlackRock’s Aladdin to Digitise OTC Derivatives Trading

OTCX, the regulated provider of price discovery and execution for OTC derivatives, has entered a multi-year partnership with BlackRock’s investment management platform, Aladdin. The collaboration aims to digitise the traditionally voice-based negotiation process for over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives and expand the electronic trading options available to clients.

By integrating OTCX’s execution venues into the Aladdin platform, the partnership will address the industry’s reliance on manual workflows for complex derivatives. The integration will provide Aladdin clients with a more efficient and transparent method for price discovery, risk management, and trade execution across a broad range of OTC derivatives.

Clients will benefit from end-to-end workflow support, from the initial request-for-market and execution through to post-trade processing. This will provide direct connectivity for a comprehensive set of OTC derivative instruments within the Aladdin ecosystem.

Acuity Knowledge Partners Acquires Technology Firm Ascent to Expand AI and Data Capabilities

Acuity Knowledge Partners, the global provider of research and AI solutions to the financial sector, has completed its acquisition of technology firm Ascent. Operating across seven European countries, Ascent supports over 170 clients with AI-driven digital transformation and will be integrated into Acuity’s Data and Technology Services (DTS) division.

The transaction increases Acuity’s global workforce to over 6,500 and facilitates its expansion into new sectors, including reinsurance, pharma, manufacturing, and retail. The deal also enhances Acuity’s partnership with Microsoft, with the combined firm now holding seven Microsoft Specialisations across four solution areas. All teams from Ascent will be absorbed into Acuity Knowledge Partners.

The acquisition follows Acuity’s recent launch of several new technology solutions. As a result of the deal, clients will have access to an expanded suite of services, including data science, Agentic AI, cloud and infrastructure services, software engineering, and digital product development.

Substantive Research Study Reveals Aggressive Pricing in Private Credit Data Market

Substantive Research has published a new study on market data pricing, expanding its analysis to include vendors in the debt, credit, and leveraged finance sectors. The new coverage reflects the significant growth of private markets, particularly private credit, where assets under management recently surpassed $3 trillion. The study highlights that the illiquid and less transparent nature of these assets has created an urgent need for accurate data from third-party sources as investors seek alpha opportunities.

The findings show increasingly aggressive behaviour from data providers. Consumers are facing renewal increases of between 10% and 40%, even for contracts valued between $100k and $1m. Vendors are also adopting inflexible, “take-it-or-leave-it” stances during negotiations, limiting buyers’ power. While pricing inconsistency is less extreme than in other data areas like ratings and terminals, the study found that comparable firms can still pay up to 20% more for the same products and use cases from the same vendor.

Keysight Technologies Makes Strategic Investment in InstrumentiX to Advance Trading Monitoring Solutions

InstrumentiX, the trading infrastructure monitoring and analytics provider, has announced a strategic investment from Keysight Technologies, Inc. The investment deepens the existing partnership between the two companies, aiming to accelerate the development and adoption of advanced monitoring solutions for the capital markets sector. The collaboration will leverage Keysight’s global reach and support infrastructure to expand the availability of InstrumentiX’s products worldwide.

The partnership addresses the challenge financial institutions face with legacy monitoring systems unable to keep pace with modern markets. InstrumentiX’s xMetrics platform provides firms with real-time visibility across their trading infrastructure to help them optimise performance and meet regulatory obligations. The combined offering will integrate InstrumentiX’s analytics with Keysight’s visibility technologies, while joint research and development will speed innovation. The xMetrics platform is built for flexible adoption and can be integrated with existing systems or deployed as a managed service.