Market Pulse - Friday, Oct. 16

Fed Keeps Markets Guessing

Fed Chair Warsh declined to signal the next move, saying the Fed won’t pre-judge meetings and will decide in October and December. The dollar slipped (DXY ~101.8) after yesterday’s hot US data: September PPI jumped 1.3% m/m (6.3% y/y) and retail sales rose 0.8%. The next FOMC meeting is October 27–28. Oil risks stay elevated amid Saudi–Houthi tensions and attacks on shipping.

Asian Markets

Asia rebounds after Thursday’s AI and chip rout

Kospi +2.8% (after a near 8% plunge)

Nikkei +1.8%

Hang Seng +1.1%

Taiex +0.7%

🇨🇳 China blue chips +0.3%

Jakarta Composite –11% on MSCI’s proposed downgrade

Wall Street

S&P 500 closed at 7,744 (+0.3%), the Dow rose 1.1%, and the 10-year yield settled near 5.09%. Money rotated out of chips into healthcare and financials. US futures are slightly lower this morning.

Forex

EUR/USD is near 1.1215. USD/JPY has slipped below 158.00. AUD/USD is near 0.6950.

Commodities

Gold is recovering toward $4,200/oz. Brent is near $105.

Crypto

BTC is around $82,000 and ETH around $2,440. BTC bounced from the $80K support.

Today’s Calendar

10:00 Producer Price Index y/y

16:15 Industrial Production m/m (September)

Times are GMT+3.