September 16, 2026 — Global markets turned cautious after Tuesday’s U.S. session, as the U.S. 10-year Treasury yield briefly hit 5.041%, its highest since 2007, before settling near 5.00%. Crude oil jumped amid Middle East supply disruptions.
WTI crude rose more than 4% to about $105.8 a barrel and Brent climbed to roughly $108.7 after loading operations at Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu export terminal were disrupted and Libyan fields faced outages. The spike in energy prices revived inflation fears and pushed markets to price in a near-certain 25-basis-point Federal Reserve rate hike, with futures implying over a 90% probability.
US stocks fell for a second session on Tuesday: the Dow lost 0.63%, the S&P 500 dropped 0.45% and the Nasdaq slipped 0.78%. Asian equities were mixed. The dollar index held near 99.7. Gold rose, with spot bullion climbing 0.82% to $4,328.37 an ounce and back above the $4,300 mark, as safe-haven demand offset pressure from higher yields and a firmer dollar.
Investors now await the Fed’s policy statement due early Thursday, with the key question being not just whether rates rise, but how hawkish the signal is for the rest of 2026.