Oil prices surged above $104 per barrel, impacting global markets including Wall Street and Australia. The S&P 500 fell by 0.5%, while technology stocks declined sharply; Nvidia dropped 1.1%. In contrast, Australian futures suggested a modest gain of 8 points or 0.1% for the ASX at the open. Economic uncertainty and inflation concerns continued to influence market dynamics, with bond yields near their highest levels since 2002 due to fears about high inflation and government debt loads.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-08,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Oil prices jumped and the price for a barrel of Brent crude got back above $US104, while the US stock market pulled further from its record with technology stocks falling sharply.
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stocks → jump → record
The S&P 500 dipped 0.5 per cent and is on track for a second modest loss after setting its all-time high.
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S&P → dip → high
The Australian sharemarket is set to edge higher, with futures at 4.59am AEDT pointing to a gain 8 points, or 0.1 per cent, at the open.
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futures → set → open
The ASX shed 0.8 per cent on Thursday.
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ASX → shed → Thursday
The Australian dollar was trading at US69.57¢.
Stocks bent under a 3.8 per cent rise for the price of a barrel of Brent, the international standard, to $US104.08.
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Stocks → trade → US104.08
It’s been swinging between $US96 and nearly $US110 over the last month on uncertainty about when the war with Iran will allow the global energy industry to return to normal.
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industry → swing → normal
Nvidia, the chip company that’s ridden the tidal wave of demand created by the artificial-intelligence technology frenzy, fell 1.1 per cent and was one of Thursday’s heaviest weights on the S&P 500.
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that → ride → S&P
Tech and AI-linked stocks fell around midday amid multiple bearish headlines.
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stocks → link → headlines
The Financial Times reported OpenAI’s annualised revenue is $20 billion less than previously signalled.
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revenue → report → ?
Oracle slid following a report it was trucking natural gas to server farms as a workaround to power bottlenecks.
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it → slide → bottlenecks
That was even though a bellwether for the chip industry, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., reported growth for September that suggested its revenue for the latest quarter was strong enough to top analysts’ expectations.
uncertain
revenue → report → expectations
TSMC’s stock that trades in the United States fell 2 per cent.
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that → trade → States
Wall Street also felt pressure from more sharp swings within the bond market.
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Street → feel → market
The yield on the 10-year Treasury veered from 5.28 per cent late on Wednesday to 5.35 per cent early on Thursday morning.
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yield → veer → morning
It then fell back to 5.26 per cent.
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It → fall → cent
Despite all the back and forth, it remains near its highest level since 2002 and well above its 3.97 per cent level from before the war with Iran began because of worries about high inflation, big government debt loads and other factors.
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war → remain → inflation
Also helping to support yields was the latest report to suggest the US economy is continuing to chug along.
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economy → help → yields
Fewer US workers applied for unemployment benefits last week, which may mean companies are laying off fewer workers.
uncertain
companies → apply → workers
Higher yields can slow the economy by making it more expensive for everyone to borrow money.
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everyone → slow → money
High yields also put downward pressure on prices for stocks and other investments, and those seen as the most expensive often feel the brunt.
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those → put → brunt
That raises the pressure on companies to deliver big growth in profits, which can offset the downward push on their stock prices from higher bond yields.
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which → raise → yields
A big reason for the S&P 500’s rally to a record is that analysts expect companies in the index to deliver nearly 30 per cent growth in earnings per share this upcoming reporting season.
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companies → expect → share
That’s a high bar.
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That → ’ → ?
Levi Strauss on late Wednesday reported a bigger profit for its latest quarter than analysts expected, while raising its forecast for profit over its full fiscal year.
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analysts → report → year
But its stock nevertheless fell 3.1 per cent after its growth in revenue fell short of analysts’ expectations.
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growth → fall → expectations
PepsiCo, in contrast, added 1.3 per cent after reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected and highlighting strength outside of North America.
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analysts → add → America
It, though, cut its forecast for an underlying measure of profit this fiscal year.
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It → cut → profit
Expectations are likely not as high for PepsiCo as for other companies because its stock came into the day with a drop of nearly 14 per cent for the year so far.
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stock → come → year
That compares with gains of nearly 15 per cent for the S&P 500 and 27.3 per cent for Nvidia over the same time, which are both near their records.
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which → compare → records
In stock markets abroad, South Korea’s Kospi fell 2.6 per cent for one of the world’s larger losses.
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Kospi → fall → losses
It was hurt by a 2.4 per cent drop for Samsung Electronics, one of its two dominant stocks.
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It → hurt → stocks
The tech giant said its operating profit for the latest quarter likely soared to $US107.4 trillion Korean won ($110 billion) from $US12.17 trillion won a year earlier, but that wasn’t enough to satisfy investors.
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that → say → investors
Indexes fell across much of the rest of Asia and Europe.
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Indexes → fall → Asia
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newsletter → deliver → stories
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