News desk · Morning edition · Thursday, October 15, 2026

Equities have stayed near record territory, keeping the broader bull regime intact, even as risk appetite gyrates day to day. A hot 3.7% CPI print and renewed rate-hike fears deepened the AI/tech rout, with breadth collapsing to just 13% of indices above their 50-day average from 50%. The Fear & Greed Index tumbled further to 23 (extreme fear) from 33, even as the VIX's intraday spike eased to +4.4% after yesterday's surge.

auto-generated · written Oct 15, 2026, 9:52 AM EDT

Prices in this edition were taken live, not from stored closes. They were read at the Morning edition slot on Thursday, October 15, 2026. Anything named as a cause may come from a headline the desk was given.

Equities

TSMC posts record profit for sixth straight quarter on AI chip demand, shares still fell 4.9%
Anthropic reports $16.8B Q3 revenue ahead of IPO but flags growth deceleration
OpenAI sued by eight US states over ChatGPT child-safety concerns

Sector and commodities

September CPI hits 3.7% as Iran-war energy prices drive inflation higher
Treasury yields above 5% raise fiscal-sustainability concerns amid $2 trillion deficit
Ukraine resumes strikes on Russian refineries, abandoning the proposed energy ceasefire

Crypto

No crypto-specific headlines again today, extending the quiet stretch

Fixed income

10-year Treasury yield falls 2.74% to 5.05% even as CPI runs hot

Shanghai Composite (000001.SS)-1.6%

Shanghai fell 1.59% to 3707, its lowest close in this stretch, as the AI-financing scare spread into Asia.

Nasdaq Composite (IXIC)-1.0%

The Nasdaq's slide to 26,416 marks a third straight down day since early-October's peak near 27,600.

FTSE 100 (FTSE)+0.9%

The FTSE 100 bucks the global tech rout, closing at a fresh high of 10,819 on defensive-sector strength.