Tuesday Sep 22, 2026
Tuesday Sep 22, 2026
Tuesday, 22 September 2026 05:55 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Global equities advanced on Monday, driven by fresh evidence of surging demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure that lifted technology shares, while oil prices retreated on reports that more crude supply was leaving the Gulf than previously estimated, despite ongoing regional conflict.
MSCI’s All-World index rose 1.03%, while European shares rallied 1.12%. In the US, the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.62%, the S&P 500 added 1.05% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.49%.
Chipmakers led the advance. Intel rose 13%, while Advanced Micro Devices surged 9.2%, making it the latest chipmaker to reach a $ 1 trillion market valuation. Micron Technology gained 2.3%. Separately, South Korean data showed the country’s exports for the first 20 days of the month hit a record high, driven by surging demand for chips.
Risk appetite held firm despite growing expectations of further global interest rate increases. Analysts attributed this partly to the view that central banks are raising rates to contain inflation rather than to slow economic activity, meaning further tightening was likely to be gradual and limited.
The Bond market, which had endured six consecutive weeks of selloffs amid rising interest rates and elevated oil prices, rallied on Monday, led by gains in European debt.
Interest-rate-sensitive two-year US Treasury yields fell 1.18 basis points to 4.731%, having earlier touched 4.772%, their highest level since July 2024. Benchmark 10-year yields dropped 3.68 basis points to 4.959%.
Central banks in most major economies are expected to raise rates again this year. Hawkish guidance from the US Federal Reserve last week left futures markets pricing a 53% chance of a further hike in October, with 89% odds of a hike by year-end.
Concerns over inflation and Governments’ long-term fiscal positions had earlier pushed French debt lower on Friday, sending its risk premium to its highest level since the 2012 euro zone debt crisis. In Germany, Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s mainstream conservative party suffered its worst election result since 1949, though the principal driver for Bond markets remained the fall in oil prices. German 10-year yields fell 7.08 basis points to 3.451%, while French 10-year yields dropped 10 basis points to 4.465%.
Oil futures eased even as Iran and the United States exchanged fresh threats and Houthi forces attacked Saudi Arabia’s capital. US crude fell 4.8% to $ 95.49 a barrel, while Brent crude dropped 3.56% to $ 100.17 a barrel.
In foreign exchange markets, the dollar gained 0.36% against the yen to trade at 157.43, with investors wary that the Bank of Japan could exploit thin liquidity during the country’s three-day Silver Week holiday to intervene in the currency. The yen had jumped on Friday after Japanese authorities conducted rate checks in the currency market, according to the Nikkei newspaper.
