US stocks gain, oil falls on September 26 2026

MORNING BRIEFING - SEPTEMBER 26, 2026

1. US STOCKS RISE AS OIL AND YIELDS PULL BACK
Wall Street rebounded as oil eased and yields paused. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 478.64 points, or 0.93%, to 51,828.62; the S&P 500 rose 39.28 points, or 0.51%, to 7,743.41; the Nasdaq Composite rose 129.35 points, or 0.48%, to 27,068.72. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted a second straight weekly gain, while the Dow snapped a three-week losing streak.

2. APPLE HITS RECORD, MICROSOFT ENDS AT NOVEMBER HIGH
Apple hit a record; Microsoft ended at November high. Apple gained 1.53%, pushing market value near USD 5 trillion; Microsoft rose about 3.66%. Meta fell 3.33% on profit-taking after its AI agent Muse rally, though it gained 12.99% for the week; according to some reports, Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot output rose roughly 10-fold and Tesla shares fell 1.54%. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index rose 1.41%, a fourth straight weekly gain.

3. TREASURY YIELDS COOL AFTER TOUCHING MULTI-YEAR HIGHS
Treasury yields cooled after touching multi-year highs. The 2-year yield fell about 7 basis points to 4.86%; the 10-year yield eased about 4 basis points to around 5.17% after touching 5.22% intraday; the 30-year yield traded near 5.5%, still the highest since 2004. Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said rising real rates and strong technology investment demand drove yields higher, not inflation concerns; Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid said inflation remains above the 2% target.

4. OIL DROPS ROUGHLY 2% ON US-IRAN TALK HOPES
WTI fell 2.33%; Brent fell 2.14%. November WTI settled at USD 92.41 a barrel; Brent settled at USD 104.32 a barrel. The decline came as markets weighed a possible US-Iran deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The White House is considering measures to curb high diesel prices, including suspending the diesel tax and possibly banning diesel exports; French President Emmanuel Macron wants to convene G7 members to discuss releasing strategic oil reserves.

5. IRAN SUBMITS SEVEN-DAY PROPOSAL; RUSSIA-US-UKRAINE IN FOCUS
Iran proposed reopening Hormuz within seven days. Iran submitted a seven-day proposal under which the Strait of Hormuz would reopen and talks would restart if certain conditions are met; a US official called negotiations active and constructive but said Washington is in no rush. According to information cited, nearly 40 million barrels of crude passed through Hormuz under US escort in the past 48 hours. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a Russia-US-Ukraine trilateral meeting could take place soon, but no concrete details are available.

6. PRECIOUS METALS POST WEEKLY DECLINE DESPITE LATE GAINS
Gold and silver ended week lower despite late gains. COMEX gold futures rose 0.52% to USD 4,320.50/oz but fell 2.36% for the week; silver futures rose 1.11% to USD 64.71/oz, down 3.63% weekly. Spot gold edged up to about USD 4,284.20/oz but recorded a fourth consecutive weekly decline, as yields near 5.2% limited the rebound.

7. CANADA, ASIA-PACIFIC AND EUROPE MARKETS MIXED
Canada stocks edged up; Hong Kong declined. The S&P/TSX Composite rose 0.3% to 35,801 as the global yield surge paused, led by bank stocks. Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.30% to 66,364.20; South Korean markets were closed for Chuseok. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 1.01% to 24,510.09 and the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 1.13%; Europe's FTSE 100 rose 0.14%, Germany's DAX rose 0.56%, while France's CAC 40 slipped 0.04%.

8. ANTHROPIC EYES 1 GIGAWATT LEASE; SOFTBANK RAISES CAPITAL
Anthropic in talks for 1 gigawatt; SoftBank raises funds. Anthropic is in early talks to lease up to 1 gigawatt of computing capacity from Apollo-backed Stream Data Centers, a deal worth at least USD 40 billion. SoftBank finalized about USD 11.1 billion of corporate bonds for overseas institutional investors, mainly to fund additional OpenAI investment, bringing its total stake to USD 64.6 billion or 13%. OpenAI said it notified dozens of institutions, including government agencies and universities, that their websites may have been affected by AI model access during safety evaluation.

9. FED DRAFTS BANK RULE CHANGE; IMF HIGHLIGHTS AI LIFT
Fed drafts bank rule change. The Federal Reserve is drafting a plan to raise the asset threshold that triggers stricter regulation of large banks, potentially reducing compliance costs for some lenders and encouraging consolidation. The IMF estimates AI-related investment added about 0.5 percentage point to US GDP growth in 2025 and global private-sector AI investment could exceed USD 2 trillion in 2026. Also, the Hong Kong exchange will accept Chinese government bonds and policy bank bonds as non-cash collateral starting in November.

10. US AND JAPAN DISCUSS STRONG YEN
Treasury Secretary discussed strong yen with Japan. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he discussed the desirability of a strong yen with Japan's Finance Minister Katayama Satsuki, adding that a strong yen would reflect Japan's solid economic fundamentals; the yen held gains after the remarks. President Trump had earlier expressed concern about yen weakness in a meeting with Prime Minister Takaichi.

Key event to watch today: Progress in US-Iran talks over the Strait of Hormuz and oil price reaction.
*Information compiled from multiple sources for reference at the time of publication.*