The Morning Briefing · Sunday, 18 October 2026 · Published 07:15 CET · 5-minute read
Good morning. Wall Street closed a bruising week for technology on Friday, while Europe held up and oil climbed back toward $110. Here is what moved your money, and what comes next.
☕ Today in 30 seconds
- Nasdaq’s worst week since June. A 4.5% weekly drop as chip and AI stocks sold off.
- Brent near $110. Attacks around the Strait of Hormuz pushed oil up 3.7% on Friday.
- Euro-area inflation confirmed at 3.8%. Energy prices are the main driver.
- China’s GDP lands early Monday. The first big test for markets next week.
📈 Markets
| Index/Asset | Last close (Fri) | Change |
|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | 7,659.44 | −1.1% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 26,140.03 | −2.1% |
| Dow Jones | 52,002.41 | −0.3% |
| Euro Stoxx 50 | ↑ higher | +0.6% |
| IBEX 35 | 19,326.30 | +0.8% |
| Brent oil | $109.86 | +3.7% |
| Gold | about $4,170–4,190 | ↔ little changed |
| EUR/USD | about 1.125 | ↑ euro higher |
| US 10-year yield | about 5.10% | ↑ slightly higher |
For the week, the S&P 500 lost about 2% while the Dow gained 0.7%, helped by energy shares. In Madrid, the IBEX 35 finished the week in positive territory, led by Acciona Energía and Telefónica (Yahoo Finanzas).
🌍 Economy
Euro-area inflation is confirmed at 3.8%. Eurostat’s final reading for September matched the flash estimate, up from 3.2% in August. Energy prices rose 18.9% on the year and services 3.2%; Spain’s rate climbed to 5.0%, one of the higher readings in the bloc (Eurostat).
Warsh keeps the Fed’s next move open. Speaking at the IMF gathering in Bangkok, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said he does not prejudge meetings. Traders trimmed bets on a rate hike at the 27–28 October meeting, but futures still price roughly one quarter-point increase by December (Yahoo Finance).
Borrowing costs stay high. The US 10-year Treasury yield ended the week around 5.1%, after jumping on Wednesday’s hotter-than-expected consumer price report. That level feeds directly into mortgage and loan rates (Kitco).
⚡ Energy & bills
Oil jumps again on Gulf tensions. Brent settled at $109.86 a barrel on Friday and US crude moved back above $100 after attacks on commercial ships near the Strait of Hormuz. Higher crude usually reaches petrol and heating bills within weeks (The Rio Times).
IEA members release their last 100 million barrels. Countries agreed to complete the emergency stock release pledged in March, including more than 20 million barrels of diesel to be distributed as soon as possible. Total releases will exceed the original 400 million barrels (Rigzone).
🏢 Companies
Chip and AI stocks extend their slide. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 3.8%, with all 30 members lower, and memory makers such as Micron dropped more than 5%. CoreWeave lost about 12% on worries about its heavy debt load, leaving it down roughly a quarter for the week (TradingKey).
Travelers earns more despite bigger storm costs. The insurer reported third-quarter core income of $9.18 per share, up from $8.14 a year earlier, even as catastrophe losses rose to $538 million. It also bought back about $1.5 billion of its own shares (Travelers via SEC).
🔢 One number to know
18.9%
The annual rise in euro-area energy prices in September, up from 14.3% in August. Energy alone added 1.7 percentage points to headline inflation (Eurostat).
🗓 What to watch today
| Time (CET) | Event | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday | Markets closed; no major data scheduled | A pause to digest a volatile week for tech and oil |
| 04:00 (Mon) | China Q3 GDP, industrial output and retail sales | A read on global demand for oil, metals and exports |
| After US close (Tue) | Netflix third-quarter results | Opens a big week of tech earnings, with Tesla and Meta to follow |
| 27–29 Oct | Fed decision, then US PCE inflation | The next big signals on US interest rates |
Full week in our economic calendar.
📚 Read more
- Wholesale prices just jumped 1.3%. What PPI means for you
- Weekly Money Quiz: 5 questions on inflation, oil and heating aid
- Michigan OKs $139M Consumers gas rate hike: what it means
- Tool: see what rising prices do to your money with our inflation calculator.
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Market data is for information only and is not investment advice.
Written by The Daily Economy editorial team with AI assistance and checked against the linked sources. Read our editorial policy.