Daily News
Stocks Rally as Yields and Oil Retreat from Fed-Induced Sell-Off; Gold Nears $4,400; BOJ Hikes to 31-Year High; Trump Says U.S. “Hopefully” Nearing End of Iran War
18 September 2026
Today in Brief
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 1.90% while the Topix rose 0.17%, South Korea’s Kospi advanced 2.67%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.67%. U.S. equities climbed Thursday as Treasury yields and oil prices retreated, with the Dow gaining 316 points (0.61%) to 51,778.04, the S&P 500 up 1.14% to 7,637.76, and the Nasdaq adding 1.69% to 26,418.30, led by Nvidia, Amazon, Microsoft, Qualcomm and Intel. Gold rose toward $4,400 an ounce as falling oil prices eased inflation concerns, while crude fell below $101 per barrel for a third straight session as Saudi Arabia worked to restore East-West pipeline flows. The Bank of Japan raised its policy rate 25 basis points to 1.25%, a 31-year high, in a 7-2 decision.
In other news: Russia entered a three-day parliamentary election widely expected to preserve United Russia’s dominance amid economic strain from the war; Canadian PM Mark Carney welcomed EU plans to make Canada an associate member of the bloc, alluding to U.S. tariff pressure; President Trump said the U.S. is “hopefully” nearing the end of its war with Iran as Saudi Arabia and the Houthis traded strikes in Yemen; Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the company will double chip sales next year; China’s CXMT is preparing to enter the flash-memory market against Samsung and YMTC amid a global shortage; Apple is poised to launch Apple Pay in India with Axis Bank; and a German court ruled Meta liable for fake investment ads on Instagram and Facebook.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 1.90% while the Topix rose 0.17%
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 1.90% while the Topix rose 0.17%. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 2.67%, and the small-cap Kosdaq gained 0.45%. Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was flat. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.67%, while mainland China’s CSI 300 added 1.05%U.S. markets are coming off a positive session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher by 316 points, or 0.6%. The S&P 500 rallied 1.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.7%.
Stocks surge as oil and bond yields retreat, recovering from Fed-induced sell-off
U.S. equities climbed on Thursday, supported by a drop in Treasury yields and oil prices and gains in key technology stocks, as traders clawed back losses from the prior trading day caused by the first Federal Reserve interest rate hike in three years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 316.14 points, or 0.61%, to settle at 51,778.04. The S&P 500 was up 1.14% at 7,637.76, and the Nasdaq Composite added 1.69% to reach 26,418.30. Tech drove the broader market higher. “Magnificent Seven” names Nvidia and Amazon rose more than 2% each, while Microsoft gained 1.5%. Other stocks related to the artificial intelligence trade such as Qualcomm and Intel advanced 2% and 7%, respectively.
Gold rose toward $4,400 an ounce on Friday, extending gains from the previous session
Gold rose toward $4,400 an ounce on Frida, extending gains from the previous session, supported by falling oil prices that eased inflation concerns and helped push bond yields lower. Oil prices declined for a third consecutive session as Saudi Arabia worked to restore flows through its East-West pipeline, while President Donald Trump is set to meet with Gulf leaders next week. Treasury yields also pulled back from multi-year highs, with the US 10-year yield falling to around 4.93% after briefly exceeding 5% earlier this week. Meanwhile, investors continued to assess the outlook for Federal Reserve monetary policy following its first-rate hike in three years.
Crude oil fell below $101 per barrel on Friday, extending its decline for a third consecutive session
Crude oil fell below $101 per barrel on Friday, extending its decline for a third consecutive session as concerns over supply disruptions in the Middle East eased and hopes grew for renewed diplomatic efforts to end the conflict and restore energy flows. Saudi Arabia is targeting the recovery of around half the capacity of its East-West pipeline within days, with a return to full operations expected within six weeks. In the meantime, the kingdom is rerouting some crude exports through the Strait of Hormuz. Shuttle vessels transport crude through Hormuz before loading tankers waiting outside the strait, limiting their exposure to potential Iranian attacks. Reports also suggested that China had urged Iran to help curb Houthi militants after an appeal from Riyadh, as the rebel group intensified attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said he was weighing whether to resume attacks on Iran ahead of a meeting with Gulf leaders in New York next week.
Bank of Japan raises interest rates to 31-year high, flags concerns over inflation
The Bank of Japan has raised its policy rate by 25 basis points to 1.25%, the highest level since 1995.The move also marked a quickening in the BOJ’s rate hike cycle since it started monetary policy normalization in March 2024, with the rise taking place three months from the BOJ’s last hike, as compared to six months previously. The decision was split 7-2, with board members Toichiro Asada and Ayano Sato dissenting from the hike. The duo is seen as reflationists and were appointed by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi earlier this year. The rise in rate hikes was widely expected, with almost 90% of economists surveyed by CNBC expecting the 25-basis-point tightening. Those surveyed also correctly predicted the dissenters to the decision. In its statement, the BOJ said the move was because of a risk that inflation will deviate upward to beyond its 2% target.
Putin braces for election stress test as Russians ‘feel the pain’ of struggling economy
Russian President Vladimir Putin is bracing for a wartime reckoning as the Kremlin prepares to hold its first parliamentary election since the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.The tightly controlled vote, which takes place over a three-day period from Friday to Sunday, is widely expected to shore up the dominance of the ruling United Russia party in the 450-seat State Duma, the lower house of parliament. While the result is not in doubt, external observers will be paying close attention to voter turnout and the margin of United Russia’s victory for any signs of public discontent after more than four-and-a-half years of war.
Carney says Canada will decide its own partnerships after Trump calls EU proposal ‘laughable’
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday welcomed the European Union’s ambition to make Ottawa an associate member of the 27-nation bloc and said Canadian lawmakers would ultimately vote on the final structure of the alliance. “Canada and Europe are each strong. Europe and Canada are stronger together,” Carney told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France. Canada’s prime minister did not name President Donald Trump in his speech, but he nodded to his U.S. counterpart’s use of tariffs by saying, “Economic integration is now being weaponized — tariffs being used to exert pressure.” Speaking in French, Carney continued: “Financial mechanisms have been used for coercion. Supply chains constitute weak points to be exploited.”
Trump says U.S. ‘hopefully’ nearing end of Iran war as Saudi Arabia, Houthis trade strikes
U.S. President Donald Trump has said the country is “hopefully” toward the end of its nearly seven-month war with Iran, as fighting continues to escalate between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen. “Well, hopefully we are toward the end of the war. They want to make a deal, we’ll see how that works out,” Trump told reporters in North Carolina on Wednesday evening. The U.S. president also said he had spoken with Tehran “directly,” without providing further details. His comments come as the sprawling Middle East conflict, which started on Feb. 28, expands into Yemen, further disrupting energy exports and rattling oil markets. The Houthis have ramped up attacks on targets in Saudi Arabia and launched a lightning ground offensive to exercise control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a vital oil choke point that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and to global markets.
Jensen Huang says Nvidia will sell twice as many chips next year
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said on Thursday that the company will double the number of chips it sells next year. It’s the latest forecast from Nvidia that points to continuing massive growth for the next six quarters, and comes shortly after the company revealed that it expected 70% growth in the fiscal year ending in January 2028, or about $673 billion, which caused analyst expectations to shoot up. “I expect Nvidia to sell twice as many chips as this next year as we do this year,” Huang told the media at a summit with King Charles III in Scotland. “The reason for that is because AI has, has so much contribution to the benefits of different industries, different economies, and you can see that in almost every single country that we’re in, people want to invest in AI.”
China’s CXMT eyes flash-memory push amid global shortage; firm to take on Samsung, YMTC
Chinese chipmaker CXMT is preparing to enter the booming flash memory chip market dominated by Samsung Electronics and other foreign rivals, three people with knowledge of the matter said, a move that would broaden its customer base amid a global memory shortage. The move would also pit the dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chip specialist against domestic rival YMTC, taking it into one of the semiconductor industry’s fastest-growing segments. Strong demand from artificial intelligence servers has created a global memory shortage that industry executives believe will persist through at least 2027. SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung said in July that 2027 could be the industry’s worst year from a supply perspective, while TrendForce expects NAND supply tightness to ease only in the second half of next year.
Apple Pay eyes India rollout with Axis Bank
Apple is poised to launch Apple Pay in India next month with Axis Bank’s credit cards, three sources familiar with the matter said, as it works to expand support among the country’s lenders. The launch, starting with a single major banking partner, would help the US company offer its payment service in the world’s most populous country, one of the few major economies where it is not available. Mumbai-based Axis Bank is the fourth-largest credit card issuer in India. Apple Pay has also been in discussions with Axis Bank’s larger private sector rivals HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank but they are yet to agree commercial terms, two of the sources said. All three sources spoke on condition of anonymity as the talks are private. Apple and HDFC did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters. ICICI and Axis said no comment when contacted by Reuters.
German court rules Meta liable for fake ads on Instagram, Facebook
A German court has ruled that Meta is liable for fake advertisements posted by third parties on its Instagram and Facebook platforms, and ordered the U.S. tech giant to remove such content and pay damages, the court said on Thursday. The lawsuit was brought by the operator of a German financial portal and its founder, whose trademarked logo and image were used without consent in posts recommending investments allegedly with fraudulent intent. The portal operator reported nearly 260 violations to Meta in August 2024 alone; however, Meta took up to 62 days to remove some content, the court said. It ruled Meta could not rely on the Digital Services Act’s lack-of-knowledge defence, because unlike purely chronological feeds, it exercises control over the content through its algorithms and advertising practices.