Stock Index

U.S. stock index futures climbed on Monday, with Dow futures up about 0.7% and S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures also higher. Oil fell to an 11-day low, with Brent at $101.2 a barrel, down 2.6%, and the WTI October contract at $97.80, down 2.5%. Investors are watching an upcoming meeting between U.S. and Chinese leaders while continuing to digest last week’s Federal Reserve rate hike.

India’s Sensex and Nifty rose sharply at 2:11 pm, with the Sensex up 0.87% to 74,944 and the Nifty gaining 0.47% to 23,455. Brent crude fell 2.25% to $101.53 a barrel and WTI slid 2.19% to $98.10, easing pressure on India’s import costs.

US equity funds saw a fourth consecutive week of net outflows in the week ended September 18, with investors pulling $31.44 billion. The withdrawals were driven by rising oil prices, inflation concerns and expectations of further Federal Reserve rate hikes. Broad-market funds faced heavy redemptions, while sector funds attracted inflows and bond-fund inflows slowed.

AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot bought £7.25 million of shares, while chair Michel Demaré purchased £300,000 at 12,121p a share on the same day. The stock has fallen about 20% since topping 15,500p in February, pressured by a latestage trial setback and speculation tying the group to $400 billion merger talks with BristolMyers Squibb. Soriot has said AstraZeneca does not need M&A to reach his mediumterm revenue goal of $80 billion.

S&P 500 companies posted a 51% year-over-year jump in earnings per share in Q2 2026, lifting growth over the past four quarters to 26%. Major technology firms including Amazon and Meta are expected to spend about $800 billion on capital expenditures this year, up 94% from 2025. Memory-chip makers are seeing gross margins near 80%, and Goldman Sachs estimates S&P 500 earnings could fall by about 10% if overall chip gross margins drop from roughly 70% to the 15-year average of 55%. Large technology companies also generated more than $150 billion in private-investment gains during the quarter, contributing roughly 12% of S&P 500 EPS.

Brent crude fell for a third straight session, down more than 1.3% to around $103 a barrel, though it stayed above $100. Tata Group stocks saw their combined market capitalisation drop by about ₹4.2 trillion, or 1.73%. The Indian rupee snapped a seven-session losing streak, supported by the pullback in oil prices.

The Bank of Japan raised its policy rate to a 31-year high of 1.25% to curb the risk of inflation overshooting its 2% target. Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 1%, led by AI- and semiconductor-related shares such as SoftBank, Advantest and Tokyo Electron. Gaming stocks lagged, with Nintendo and Konami each down about 2%.

Turkish regulators froze trading in funds run by seven asset managers and ordered 130 funds to liquidate following a market selloff. The funds involved have a combined portfolio of 891 billion lira ($21.4 billion) and about 353,000 investors, according to a source cited by Reuters. The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkiye increased repo funding to 300 billion lira and lifted banks’ interbank borrowing limits tenfold to ease lira liquidity strains.

The Bank of England kept its benchmark rate unchanged at 3.75%, but a 6-3 vote signalled a more hawkish tilt, with chief economist Huw Pill among three backing a hike. The BOE sharply lifted its inflation outlook, forecasting inflation will rise above 4% in early 2027, well above its 2% target. As global bond yields retreated and oil prices fell, US tech shares rebounded and Australia’s ASX was expected to open 0.6% higher. The Australian dollar rose 0.3% to 71.1 US cents.

Japan’s Nikkei index ended slightly higher as investors snapped up gaming and pharmaceutical shares that had been under pressure, with lower oil prices also lifting sentiment. Gains were capped by declines in chip-related stocks as traders waited for the Bank of Japan’s policy decision. The broader Topix index also rose.