On October 20-22, the 2026 Sustainable Global Leaders Conference will be held again in Shanghai, China. Nobel laureates and Turing Award winners will share their insights on future technologies and trends, and the popular "rescue" professor - MacFarlane and Yan Heng will have a live dialogue!
At the local time of October 15, the three major US stock indexes opened with divergent trends. Most large-cap technology stocks in the US fell at the opening, with NVIDIA falling by over 2%.
US semiconductor stocks plummeted, with Applied Optoelectronics falling by over 6%, SK Hynix ADR falling by over 3%, and Western Digital falling by over 5%.
Hot Chinese stocks mostly rose. The Nasdaq China Dragon Index rose by 1.43%. Again, the medical drug rose by over 6%, Baozun rose by over 4%, and Yidu rose by over 3%.
On the commodity market, precious metal prices rose, with London spot gold prices rising by over 1% and London spot silver prices rising by over 2%. International oil prices rose and fell, with NYMEX WTI crude oil futures rising by over 1% and Brent crude oil futures falling by over 1%.
US semiconductor stocks plummeted
According to Wind data, as of Beijing time on October 15 at 22:45, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.73%, the Nasdaq Composite Index fell by 0.53%, and the S&P 500 Index fell by 0.04%.
Most large-cap technology stocks in the US fell at the opening. The seven giant US technology stocks index fell by 0.47%. NVIDIA fell by over 2%, Tesla fell by 1.78%, Amazon fell by 0.78%, Meta fell by 0.94%, Microsoft, Apple, and Google-C rose slightly.
US semiconductor stocks plummeted. SK Hynix ADR fell by over 3%, Western Digital fell by over 5%, SanDisk fell by nearly 4%, Micron Technology fell by over 1%, Applied Optoelectronics fell by over 6%, and Seagate Technology fell by over 5%.
Hot Chinese stocks mostly rose, with the Nasdaq China Dragon Index rising by 0.92%. Yidu rose by over 5%, Baozun rose by over 4%, Again, the medical drug rose by over 3%, and Name Creative, New Oriental, NetEase, and Ideal Automobile rose by over 2%.
US September PPI significantly exceeded market expectations
According to data, the number of initial unemployment claims in the US was 199,000, exceeding market expectations of 200,000, and the previous value was revised from 197,000 to 198,000. The number of continued unemployment claims on October 3 was 1.71 million, exceeding market expectations of 1.71 million, and the previous value was revised from 1.716 million to 1.714 million.
The US September retail sales rose by 0.8% compared to the previous month, exceeding market expectations of 0.3%, and the previous value was revised from 1.2% to 1.1%. The core retail sales rose by 0.9% compared to the previous month, exceeding market expectations of 0.5%, and the previous value was revised from 1.4% to 1.3%.
The US September PPI rose by 6.3% compared to the same period last year, exceeding market expectations of 5.3%, and the previous value was revised from 5.4% to 5.6%. The PPI rose by 1.3% compared to the previous month, exceeding market expectations of 0.5%, and the previous value was revised from 0.4% to 0.5%.
Industry insiders pointed out that the US September PPI significantly exceeded market expectations, highlighting that in the context of the US-Iran conflict, energy prices continued to put pressure on inflation. Earlier, the US September CPI significantly exceeded market expectations, and the price pressure had spread from energy to core goods and services, leading to market speculation that the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates in October.
Gold prices rose
After the release of PPI data, the US dollar index briefly rose and then fell again. As of Beijing time on October 15 at 22:45, it was reported at 102.0825.
Gold prices rose. As of Beijing time on October 15 at 22:45, London spot gold prices rose by 1.22%, COMEX gold futures rose by 1.74%, and London spot silver and COMEX silver futures rose by over 2%.
International oil prices rose and fell. As of Beijing time on October 15 at 22:45, NYMEX WTI crude oil futures rose by 1.61%, and Brent crude oil futures fell by 0.68%.
Yang An, head of energy research at Huatai Futures, said that in recent times, the regional conflict has dominated international oil price fluctuations, and has also reduced the optimism for supply recovery. However, through the recent weakening of the Middle East physical market and the performance of Brent crude oil futures, the market still expects a return to oversupply in the medium and long term, and under the premise of already high geopolitical premium, the willingness to continue chasing the price is limited.
On the news front, according to Xinhua News Agency, at local time on October 15, the Iranian Navy announced that a few hours ago, a surveillance team of the Iranian Navy discovered a tanker on fire while patrolling in the eastern part of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Iranian Navy emphasized that the Strait of Hormuz is currently fully under the control and supervision of the Iranian Navy and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy.