Market News

The Nasdaq Composite closed at a record 27,122.09, up 2.26%, as technology shares led Monday’s rally. Meta gained 11.34%—its strongest day since April 2025—amid enthusiasm for its Muse AI assistant. Intel, AMD and Arm also surged as investors considered the computing demand that widely used AI assistants could create.

Falling oil prices and easing Treasury yields provided a more favorable backdrop for growth stocks. Those moves helped the broader market, but the size of the Nasdaq’s gain shows where buyers were most aggressive.

U.S. stock closes

• Dow Industrial Average: 52,054.19, up 366.04 points (+0.71%)
• S&P 500: 7,764.69, up 114.18 points (+1.49%)
• Nasdaq Composite: 27,122.09, up 599.55 points (+2.26%) to a record close
• Russell 2000:…

It's a sparse session ahead for data and events. 

Note that Japanese markets are closed again today for a holiday. Japan was closed on Monday and will be closed again on Wednesday. 

Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Michele Bullock takes part in a fireside chat hosted by CEDA in Sydney at 1:00pm AEST today,

• 0300 GMT
• 2300 US Eastern time 

with a Q&A open to the media. The appearance comes a week before the RBA's September 28-29 meeting, where a 25 basis point increase from the current 4.35% cash rate is widely expected.

Investors will be listening for any change from the firm tone she struck before a parliamentary committee on Friday. Bullock said the upside inflation risks flagged in August are now materialising, and framed the central…

The Trump administration’s proposal was reported by the Wall Street Journal, citing U.S. and Middle Eastern officials and documents:

• The Trump administration has proposed investing USD 5 billion in a new fund that would help Middle Eastern countries rebuild energy infrastructure battered in the Iran war and reduce their reliance on the Strait of Hormuz to transport oil and gas, according to U.S. and Middle Eastern officials and documents seen by the WSJ.
• Proposal is under discussion with several Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E.

Analysis: The proposal appears designed to address two goals: rebuild damaged Gulf energy infrastructure and develop alternative transportation routes that reduce dependence on the…

USDJPY is back at an important technical decision point after a volatile end to last week.

Recall that during Friday’s trading, USDJPY moved sharply higher following what the market interpreted as a dovish Bank of Japan interest-rate hike. The rally extended to 158.05, just above the key swing area between 157.90 and 158.04.

Sellers leaned against that resistance zone and pushed the price modestly lower. Later in the session, reports that the Bank of Japan was checking rates in the market—often viewed as a form of verbal intervention—helped trigger a much sharper decline.

The selloff pushed USDJPY below the 61.8% retracement at 157.536, with the price eventually finding support near the 50% midpoint at 156.656. That midpoint measures the…

Comments from St. Louis Fed’s Musalem cross the wires:

• Without further policy restraint, it is more likely inflation will remain substantially above the 2% target 18 months from now.
• Interest rates likely need to rise further to tame inflation that is both demand- and supply-driven.
• Labor market stable around full employment and not a source of inflation pressure.
• Commodity shock is more than just oil, includes base metals like copper.
• Better for rate hikes to be “earlier and incremental” rather than “later and larger.”
• Even when stripping out supply-related factors, inflation is still “too high” at up to 3%.
• Business contacts say they are planning on price increases “closer to 3%.”

Analysis: The message from Musalem is clearly…

Meta shares are surging over 10%, trading near $734.00 today, primarily because investors are enthusiastic about the rapid adoption of Meta’s new AI assistant, Muse.

Some key drivers:

• Muse has climbed to the top of Apple’s U.S. App Store, providing early evidence that Meta’s enormous AI spending could produce meaningful consumer adoption and revenue.
• Muse can perform practical tasks such as retrieving information, completing forms, arranging appointments and assisting with purchases—not simply answer questions.
• Meta is reportedly offering paid subscription tiers, creating a clearer path toward monetizing its AI investment.
• Wells Fargo raised its Meta price target to $796 and maintained an Overweight rating.
• Investors are positioning…

Comments from Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem cross the wires:

• It could take some time for higher fuel margins to normalize; that is a worry
• That is a worry because that will add persistence to headline inflation
• Have cut Q4 annualized growth forecast to 0.75%
• Expect inflation to drift up a little higher in coming months
• Key thing we’re going to be looking at is our inflation forecast
• Question is, is the current rate the right one or do we need to raise it?
• If we were too slow to raise ratess, we'd have to raise them a very quickly, and raise them more than we had moved earlier 

Earlier today, Macklem warned that new US tariffs could weigh on Canadian investment and hiring. He also highlighted the competing forces facing the Bank…

Comments from Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem cross the wires:

• It could take some time for higher fuel margins to normalize; that is a worry
• That is a worry because that will add persistence to headline inflation
• Have cut Q4 annualized growth forecast to 0.75%
• Expect inflation to drift up a little higher in coming months
• Key thing we’re going to be looking at is our inflation forecast
• Question is, is the current rate the right one or do we need to raise it?
• If we were too slow to raise ratess, we'd have to raise them a very quickly, and raise them more than we had moved earlier 

Earlier today, Macklem warned that new US tariffs could weigh on Canadian investment and hiring. He also highlighted the competing forces facing the Bank…

As London/European traders head for the exit, the major European stock indices are closing firmly higher. Italy’s FTSE MIB led the gains, while the German DAX, Spanish Ibex each advanced by more than 1%.

The final closing levels show:

• German DAX: 25,575.02, up 270.95 points or 1.07%

• France’s CAC 40: 8,138.95, up 73.92 points or 0.92%

• UK’s FTSE 100: 10,739.02, up 79.88 points or 0.75%

• Spain’s Ibex: 19,724.40, up 210.60 points or 1.08%

• Italy’s FTSE MIB: 52,371.53, up 826.29 points or 1.60%

European benchmark 10-year yields moved sharply lower helping to support the major indices. 

• Germany: 3.453%, down -6.2 basis points

• France: 4.466%, down -8.8 basis points

• UK: 5.218%, down -6.6 basis points

• Spain: 3.911%, down -7.8 basis points

• Italy: 4.334%, down…

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hit the news circuit today and followed up with a post on X touting economic gains under the administration. Meanwhile, President Trump has been posting a mix of combative press criticism, upbeat trade/policy announcements, and walked back escalatory war rhetoric on Iran — a pattern likely to accelerate as the midterms approach.

Bessent's X post — economic messaging

• Credits the administration's "pro-growth agenda" with "restoring purchasing power for working families" (paraphrased from his post)
• Claims real weekly earnings are up 4.1% for blue-collar manufacturing workers and 5% for blue-collar construction workers since January 2025
• Frames rising real wages as evidence Americans are recovering from what he…

An early blockchain prototype may prove that a fintech can reach a network and move funds, but it doesn't establish production readiness. A live service has to keep transactions secure, observable, and reconcilable while networks change, exceptions occur, control checks run, and finance systems consume the resulting data. Fintechs that don't need proprietary control over every layer can use specialist software to reduce the infrastructure they maintain internally. 

What Blockchain SaaS Can Replace

A fintech using blockchain SaaS can keep its customer interface, permissions, pricing logic, and internal ledger while a specialist platform…

Comments from Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem cross the wires:

• If new US tariffs remain in place, Q4 growth could be roughly halved to below 1%
• If oil prices stay near $100 a barrel, we'd expect inflation to edge up in coming months
• Fuel prices have risen more than we'd normally expect, reflecting damage to global refining capacity
• Recent gas prices have been more consistent with an oil price almost $40 higher than where it has been
• So far we haven't seen evidence that higher oil prices are spreading to other goods and services
• We don't want to raise rates and restrain growth if inflationary pressures are contained
• Bank of Canada says new US tariffs could slash fourth-quarter growth
• When it comes to rate decisions, we need to…