Overnight U.S. Stocks | Federal Reserve officials expect another rate hike before the end of the year, three major indexes closed lower, Micron Technology (MU.US) rose 4%

According to Zhitong Finance APP, on Wednesday, the three major indices retreated from their highs. The newly released meeting minutes showed that Federal Reserve officials expect to raise interest rates again before the end of the year to curb inflation, which has exceeded the target level for over five consecutive years. After the announcement of robust results from the 10-year U.S. Treasury auction, the long end of the yield curve narrowed its decline. The winning yield for this auction was 1.7 basis points lower than pre-issuance trading levels, and bidding indicators were also stable.

[U.S. Stocks] At market close, the Dow Jones Index fell 341.41 points, or 0.66%, to 51,179.87 points; the S&P 500 Index dropped 17.20 points, or 0.22%, to 7,801.73 points; and the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 61.20 points, or 0.22%, to 27,538.69 points. Micron Technology (MU.US) rose 4%, while SK Hynix (SKHY.US) and SpaceX (SPCX.US) dropped more than 2%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index closed up 0.12%, with JD.com (JD.US) gaining 2%.

[European Stocks] The German DAX30 Index fell 320.08 points, or 1.26%, closing at 25,129.11; the UK FTSE 100 Index lost 77.51 points, or 0.74%, at 10,464.18; the French CAC40 Index fell 95.86 points, or 1.22%, at 7,769.21; the STOXX 50 Index dropped 87.08 points, or 1.39%, to 6,185.15; the Spanish IBEX35 Index declined 316.66 points, or 1.63%, to 19,127.54; and the Italian FTSE MIB Index fell 1,249.90 points, or 2.44%, to 50,011.50.

[Asia-Pacific Markets] The Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.92%, the South Korean KOSPI Index dropped 1.98%, and the Indonesia Composite Index slipped 0.75%.

[Forex] The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the dollar against six major currencies, rose 0.4% on the day, closing New York forex trading at 102.242. By the close of the New York forex market, one euro exchanged for $1.1199, down from $1.1261 the day before; one British pound exchanged for $1.3219, down from $1.3277; one dollar exchanged for 157.96 yen, down from 158.12 yen; one dollar traded at 0.8330 Swiss francs, up from 0.8313; one dollar exchanged for 1.4256 Canadian dollars, up from 1.4209; and one dollar bought 9.9992 Swedish kronas, up from 9.9861 previously.

[Cryptocurrency] Bitcoin once fell below $83,000 and, as of press time, was trading at $83,106; Ethereum dropped more than 4.8% and was quoted at $2,565.

[Precious Metals] Spot gold fell 1.3% to $4,109.82 per ounce; spot silver was quoted at $59.798 per ounce.

[Crude Oil] At close of the day, light sweet crude oil futures for November delivery traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $1.16 to close at $88.28 per barrel, a decline of 1.3%; December Brent crude oil futures traded down 38 cents to settle at $100.20 a barrel, a decrease of 0.38%.

[Macroeconomic News]

Federal Reserve Minutes: Majority of Officials Expect One More Rate Hike Before Year-End; Cautious Path Chosen for Rate Hikes. According to today’s released minutes, Federal Reserve officials anticipate another interest rate hike by the end of this year to curb inflation, which has persisted above the target for over five years. However, the minutes did not specify the exact timing of a hike, but indicated that persistently high prices and a stable labor market may prompt the Fed to hike rates for a second time this year. The minutes stated: “Regarding the outlook for monetary policy after this meeting, most participants judged that it could be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate one more time by year-end.” “However, participants emphasized that they would take a meeting-by-meeting approach, with future decisions depending on incoming data and how those affect the economic outlook and balance of risks.” The September meeting discussion suggested that officials see ongoing risks that inflation may be sticky, while the labor market is “near full employment” and overall economic growth has accelerated. The minutes stated: “Many participants emphasized that, from a risk management perspective, a prudent approach would be a path of additional increases in the federal funds rate target range, as a safeguard against inflation persistently exceeding the target due to stronger-than-expected demand or further adverse supply shocks.”

U.S. Consumer Credit Growth Slows; Revolving Credit Falls. U.S. consumer credit grew less than expected in August, affected by the largest drop in revolving credit in nearly two years. According to figures released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve, total outstanding credit increased by $8.3 billion, the smallest gain in three months, following an upwardly revised $17.7 billion gain in July. Economists surveyed by institutions had a median forecast for a $15 billion increase in August. The report does not include home mortgages. Credit card and other revolving debt balances fell by $4.8 billion, the biggest drop since November 2024. In August, non-revolving credit (such as auto loans and tuition loans) rose by $13.1 billion. Industry data showed that auto sales growth in August reached its highest level since April last year.

Trump to Attend AI Science Conference, Announce Over $1 Billion in Investment Commitments. According to reports, U.S. President Trump will attend an AI science meeting on Thursday, aimed at leveraging “superintelligence” to accelerate scientific breakthroughs. The White House will announce that AMD (AMD.US), OpenAI, Anthropic, and other companies have made a total of over $1 billion in industrial investment commitments under the “Genesis Mission,” and will establish computing hubs composed of more than 14 institutions in 10 southeastern U.S. states, including a $1 billion investment in Georgia to provide computing resources for students and university faculty. The National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy will also invest over $100 million to develop AI-driven scientific research tools.

Shipping Through Hormuz Disrupted; Ultra-Large Tanker Freight Surges to $77 Million. Due to the situation in the Hormuz region, global tanker market supply chain costs have surged. According to the Baltic Exchange in London, charter rates for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) shipping U.S. crude to Asia have risen to $77 million, far above the 2025 average of $9.2 million. For a tanker carrying 2 million barrels of crude, this means a transportation cost increase of roughly $38.50 per barrel. The war in Iran has changed Middle Eastern crude oil export routes and shipping methods. Although regional oil flows have recently recovered, the shipping process is more complex, delivery times are longer, and the effective available fleet size is reduced, further pushing up tanker transport costs.

[Stock News]

Microsoft Announces Surface Laptop Ultra Pricing: Starting at $2,599, Focuses on Local AI Performance. Microsoft (MSFT.US) has officially announced the price and launch timeline for its new flagship notebook Surface Laptop Ultra, powered by Nvidia chips, stating that the device outperforms similar Apple products in certain AI tasks. At an event in San Francisco on Wednesday local time, Microsoft executives said Surface Laptop Ultra is twice as fast to return prompt results using local models compared to Apple’s MacBook Pro M5, and six times faster at generating video than Apple’s comparable device. Surface Laptop Ultra will soon begin shipping, starting at $2,599, about $400 less than the entry-level 16-inch MacBook Pro. The new Surface uses Nvidia chips that can handle both general computing and AI tasks. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang joined Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on stage to talk about developing this new PC chip. Huang said, “We have completely reinvented the personal computer.”

Media: Broadcom Seeks Over $50 Billion Funding for Custom Chip Development with OpenAI. Media reports quoting insiders say Broadcom (AVGO.US) has recently been seeking more than $50 billion in financing for custom AI chip development with OpenAI, and institutions such as Apollo and Blackstone are in early talks to participate, though negotiations could alter the final scale. The funds would cover multiple gigawatts of OpenAI custom chip capacity, expected to close as soon as end of this year. Internally, the project at OpenAI is called “Nexus,” with the first and second-generation chips codenamed Jalapeño and Serrano, respectively. Previously, OpenAI and Broadcom announced a partnership to develop custom chip systems with 10 gigawatts of capacity to be deployed from the second half of 2026 through end of 2029.

U.S. DoD Proposes $1.5 Billion Loan for up to 7.5% Stake in Wolfspeed via Warrants. The U.S. Department of Defense has made a conditional, senior secured loan commitment of up to $1.5 billion over 30 years to chipmaker Wolfspeed (WOLF.US) to support U.S. production of silicon carbide materials and wide bandgap power devices. According to terms still under negotiation, Wolfspeed would offer the DoD warrants to acquire up to 7.5% of the company’s shares in tranches. Wolfspeed filed for bankruptcy last July due to issues at its critical silicon carbide wafer plant and said it plans to use these funds to expand production of silicon carbide materials and power devices for telecom, aerospace and defense, and to upgrade the supply capacity of related materials for military communications systems. After the news broke, Wolfspeed’s stock rose over 28% in after-hours trading.

[Major Bank Ratings]

Barclays: Lowers Netflix (NFLX.US) Target Price from $80 to $70