On Thursday, the three major US stock indexes closed mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell for a third straight session as US Treasury yields hovering at multi-decade highs continued to pressure cyclical sectors. In addition, reports said US and Iranian negotiators in New York are considering an agreement to end the Middle East conflict in phases. Stocks rebounded from their lows on that news.
US Stocks
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.31% to 51,349.98; the S&P 500 slipped 0.02% to 7,704.13; and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.01% to 26,939.37. Meta Platforms Inc (META.US) gained 4.5%, with its market value approaching $2 trillion; Intel Corp (INTC.US) rose 3.9%, Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD.US) climbed 2.38%, while Oracle Corp (ORCL.US) fell 3.47%.
European Stocks
Germany's DAX 30 fell 0.57% to 25,266.53; the UK's FTSE 100 dropped 0.24% to 10,679.99; France's CAC 40 declined 0.52% to 8,081.43; the Euro Stoxx 50 slipped 0.43% to 6,272.95; Spain's IBEX 35 fell 0.30% to 19,573.40; and Italy's FTSE MIB dropped 0.85% to 51,543.45.
Asian Stocks
Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.76%, and South Korea's KOSPI gained 0.90%.
US Dollar Index
The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, rose 0.19% on the day and closed at 101.285 in late foreign exchange trading. At the close of New York foreign exchange trading, 1 euro traded at $1.1374, below $1.1387 the previous session; 1 pound traded at $1.3217, below $1.3243 the previous session. 1 dollar traded at 158.85 yen, above 158.27 yen the previous session; 1 dollar traded at 0.8282 Swiss francs, above 0.8244 Swiss francs the previous session; 1 dollar traded at 1.4141 Canadian dollars, above 1.4097 Canadian dollars the previous session; 1 dollar traded at 9.9224 Swedish kronor, above 9.9169 Swedish kronor the previous session.
Cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin edged up 0.2% to about $84,357, while Ethereum rose 0.9% to about $2,695. Quarterly options for Bitcoin and Ethereum expire this Friday, with a combined scale of several billion dollars, including about $1.59 billion in Bitcoin options and about $210 million in Ethereum options.
Crude Oil
Light crude futures for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose $2.45 to settle at $94.61 per barrel, a gain of 2.66%; London Brent crude futures for November delivery rose $3.52 to settle at $106.60 per barrel, a gain of 3.41%.
Precious Metals
Weighed down by a stronger dollar, spot gold fell 0.4% to $4,272.32 per ounce.
Macro News
The US and Iran are said to be negotiating a phased agreement aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz. According to people familiar with the matter, US and Iranian negotiators are discussing a phased agreement that includes Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz and the United States lifting its blockade of Iranian ports. The sources, who declined to be named, said both countries have refused to sign similar agreements in recent months, and talks were pushed during the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday to seek a breakthrough. Qatari officials are serving as mediators in the talks, the sources added. The step-by-step agreement's model is similar to the memorandum of understanding reached between the US and Iran in mid-June, which led to a fragile ceasefire that collapsed after only a few weeks. A White House official said President Donald Trump remains willing to talk with Iran but stressed that the United States does not need negotiations; escalating sanctions and an ongoing maritime blockade have severely damaged Iran's economy, leaving the US in an advantageous position. Since the war broke out, intermittent US-Iran negotiations have repeatedly collapsed, with disagreements mainly focused on the Strait of Hormuz and when Iran can access billions of dollars in funds frozen by the United States. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, attending the UN summit in New York, said in a speech that Iran will not allow free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz as long as sanctions and the US maritime blockade remain in place.
The Treasury selloff continued to build. The 30-year Treasury yield rose as high as 5.502% during Thursday's session, the highest since 2004. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield, linked to mortgage rates, surged to 5.223%, the highest since June 2007. The 2-year Treasury yield rose to 4.941%. The US Treasury conducted its second expanded debt buyback operation of the day, actually repurchasing $4.078 billion of 20- to 30-year Treasuries against a previously announced maximum of $6 billion. In addition, the US Treasury's $44 billion 7-year note auction cleared at a yield of 5.085%, the highest since issuance resumed in 2009, indicating weaker-than-expected demand.
Federal Reserve officials collectively struck a hawkish tone. Philadelphia Fed President Paulson said the Fed may need to raise rates again to lower inflation; New York Fed President Williams said the US economy has shown "extraordinary resilience," but the Fed still has a lot of work to do in addressing price pressures; Cleveland Fed President Hammack said inflationary pressures remain elevated, and the longer this persists, the harder it will be to bring inflation back to target; Richmond Fed President Barkin also noted that broad and persistent cost pressures increase the risk that inflation becomes entrenched. As yields surged, market expectations for further Fed rate hikes also rose. According to the CME FedWatch tool, the probability of the Fed raising its key rate again in October is close to 71%, compared with about 55% a week earlier.
Company News
Oracle is said to have issued a "force majeure" notice to Stack Infrastructure. According to media reports, Oracle has sent a notice invoking a "force majeure" clause to Stack Infrastructure, owned by Blue Owl Capital, hoping to delay related payments if construction of the "Project Jupiter" data center in New Mexico is hindered and cannot begin operations as planned in 2028. People familiar with the matter said Oracle is not seeking to exit its role as the project's main tenant. Oracle responded that such notices are intended to preserve contractual rights and do not by themselves mean the project has been delayed or that delivery expectations have changed. Blue Owl also said the notice will not change the two sides' financial commitments to the multi-year project.
Tesla's Nevada factory begins production, with heavy-duty Semi truck output set to rise soon. Tesla will officially open its first plant producing the heavy-duty electric Semi truck in Sparks, Nevada, as Chief Executive Elon Musk pushes into the heavy truck market. Tesla first unveiled the Semi in 2017 and delivered it in small volumes to initial customers in 2022, including key customer PepsiCo. The plant's start comes as Tesla's core electric vehicle business faces increasingly fierce competition globally, while high diesel prices create a potential opportunity for a shift to electrification in the commercial truck sector.
Qualcomm announced it has renewed a global patent license agreement with Apple. On September 24 local time, Qualcomm announced it renewed a global patent license agreement with Apple, with the new agreement effective April 1, 2027. The term and financial terms were not disclosed. The two companies ended patent litigation and signed a licensing agreement in 2019, and the current agreement expires at the end of March 2027.
Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic are said to plan to jointly build a "frontier AI standards bureau." According to reports, Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic are moving forward with forming an AI safety standards body, targeting launch by the end of this year or early 2027. The body, tentatively named the Standards Authority for Frontier AI (SAFA), plans to operate independently without government regulation. Previously, federal-level AI regulation in the United States progressed slowly, and the establishment of related institutions also stalled.
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