US Market Wrap 12 October: The Dow Alone Rises 0.38 Percent as the Nasdaq 100 Falls 0.71 Percent
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was the only US index we track to close higher on Monday, up 0.38 percent at 51,850.55 in a second straight gain. The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.71 percent, the small-cap Russell 2000 0.45, the Nasdaq Composite 0.44 and the S&P 500 closed 0.06 percent lower. The bond market was closed for the SIFMA-recommended Columbus Day holiday, so the Treasury published no par yield curve on Monday; Tuesday’s will be read against Friday’s. Brent settled 1.8 percent higher at 106.65 dollars a barrel, its highest settlement since 15 September, and WTI 2 percent higher at 93.74, as Reuters’ updated oil report carried after our Commodities Wrap of 12 October published the session’s 18:53 GMT quotes.
Energy leads and the chip complex hits a three-week low as bank earnings loom
Reuters’ closing report had energy outperforming every major industry group as crude carried the weekend’s attacks on Saudi Arabia, with communication services rising on a lift from Meta, while technology and consumer discretionary lagged and the Philadelphia semiconductor index lost ground to a three-week low. Microsoft rose 0.9 percent, and its market value moved back above 4 trillion dollars for the first time in a year after the company announced plans for a major deployment of its own AI chips; Salesforce gained after BofA Global Research upgraded the stock to buy, eBay rose after Morgan Stanley added it to its top-pick list, and Chipotle Mexican Grill fell after Starbucks said it is not buying the chain. The banks open the third-quarter earnings season early on Tuesday, with Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase reporting, and the report had analysts expecting S&P 500 earnings to surge 30.6 percent in the quarter on LSEG IBES data.
A closed bond market, a hawkish voice and a hike repriced higher
With the Treasury market shut, the report had stock investors wary of bond yields’ recent advance to 24-year highs as elevated energy prices stoke inflation concerns, and one strategist in it attributed the session’s caution to the lack of direction from bonds. Cleveland Federal Reserve President Beth Hammack said the central bank should move relatively quickly to a more restrictive stance, describing inflation as more broad-based and starting to influence firms’ price-setting plans. Traders priced a less than 22 percent chance of a rate rise at this month’s meeting on CME’s FedWatch tool, up from 17.7 percent on Friday, and the week’s data run fast behind the banks: the US consumer inflation report on Wednesday, producer prices and retail sales on Thursday. Eight of the eleven S&P 500 sectors rose even as four of the five indices fell, the defensive and energy side of the market absorbing what the growth side gave back.
Top gainers
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Dow Jones Industrial Average | 51,850.55 | +0.38% |
Closes of Monday 12 October 2026 from the price feed, ranked by change against Friday’s closes as published; the Dow was the only one of the five to rise. Run lengths are counted against our published closes.
Top losers
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| S&P 500 | 7,807.24 | -0.06% |
| Nasdaq Composite | 27,245.90 | -0.44% |
| Russell 2000 | 2,794.48 | -0.45% |
| Nasdaq 100 | 30,664.70 | -0.71% |
Top losers, same session and basis.
S&P 500 sectors
| Sector | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 1,014.50 | +1.48% |
| Consumer Staples | 946.66 | +1.22% |
| Communication Services | 477.55 | +1.12% |
| Industrials | 1,431.64 | -0.07% |
| Consumer Discretionary | 1,872.66 | -0.73% |
| Technology | 7,314.60 | -0.90% |
The three strongest and three weakest of the eleven sectors, same read and basis; omitted middle: real estate +0.88 percent at 268.37, health care +0.68 at 2,006.20, financials +0.57 at 915.67, utilities +0.53 at 422.77, materials +0.12 at 630.74.
Commodities
| Contract | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Gold, COMEX (Dec’26), dollars an ounce | $4,192.50 | -0.56% |
| Silver, COMEX (Dec’26), dollars an ounce | $60.435 | -1.00% |
| Brent Crude, ICE (Dec’26), dollars a barrel | $106.49 | +1.69% |
| WTI Crude, NYMEX (Nov’26), dollars a barrel | $93.57 | +1.87% |
Carried unchanged from our Commodities Wrap of 12 October 2026 on its stated 18:53 GMT snapshot basis, measured against Friday’s settlements of 104.72 and 91.85 dollars for the crudes, as published there. The Brent and WTI settlements reported by the wire were 106.65 dollars (up 1.8 percent) and 93.74 dollars (up 2 percent). Fixed row order.
Currencies, volatility and crypto
| Instrument | Level | Change |
|---|---|---|
| VIX | 15.21 | +2.49% |
| US Dollar Index (DXY) | 102.60 | +0.38% |
| Euro/Dollar | 1.1152 | -0.44% |
| Sterling/Dollar | 1.3204 | -0.20% |
| Dollar/Yen | 158.64 | +0.21% |
| Bitcoin | $82,965.39 | -0.78% |
Quotes at 20:22 GMT, in fixed order; snapshots, not settlements; the VIX row is the session’s last reading on the vendor’s feed.
Asia, session of Monday 12 October
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| S&P/ASX 200 (Australia) | 8,783.20 | +0.76% |
| Straits Times (Singapore) | 5,415.48 | +0.25% |
| Hang Seng (Hong Kong) | 24,271.20 | +0.25% |
| Taiex (Taiwan) | 49,301.96 | -0.02% |
| Shanghai Composite (China) | 3,797.24 | -0.43% |
| Nifty 50 (India) | 22,363.35 | -0.70% |
| Shenzhen Component (China) | 12,384.87 | -2.03% |
| Kospi (South Korea) | 6,384.24 | -3.65% |
Carried whole from our Asia Market Wrap of 12 October 2026, gainers then losers in its published order; Tokyo’s equity markets did not trade for the Sports Day holiday, as disclosed there.
Middle East, session of Monday 12 October
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| QE Index (Qatar) | 8,976.64 | +1.15% |
| ASE Index (Jordan) | 4,167.62 | +0.37% |
| DFM General (Dubai) | 5,837.77 | +0.33% |
| Boursa Kuwait All-Share (Kuwait) | 8,649.53 | +0.12% |
| FTSE ADX General (Abu Dhabi) | 9,761.93 | -0.34% |
| Bahrain All Share (Bahrain) | 1,882.20 | -0.42% |
| MSX 30 (Oman) | 7,803.931 | -0.61% |
| Tadawul All Share (Saudi Arabia) | 10,283.96 | -0.74% |
| EGX 30 (Egypt) | 51,613.92 | -1.14% |
Carried whole from our Middle East Market Wrap of 12 October 2026, gainers then losers in its published order.
Europe, session of Monday 12 October
| Index | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|
| IBEX 35 (Spain) | 19,285.80 | +1.33% |
| FTSE 100 (UK) | 10,656.28 | +0.99% |
| DAX (Germany) | 25,277.68 | +0.76% |
| Euro STOXX 50 (euro area) | 6,196.37 | +0.31% |
| CAC 40 (France) | 7,832.88 | +0.38% |
| AEX (Netherlands) | 1,135.49 | +0.40% |
| STOXX Europe 600 (Europe) | 635.10 | +0.50% |
| FTSE MIB (Italy) | 50,035.00 | +0.58% |
| SMI (Switzerland) | 13,877.84 | +0.66% |
Carried whole from our Europe Market Wrap of 12 October 2026, its strongest-gains rows then its shallowest-gains rows in their published order; all nine indices closed higher, as disclosed there.
Why it matters: The same oil premium ran through every session we published on Monday, and New York drew the map most plainly: the sectors that sell energy and staples absorbed what the chip complex gave back, and the index whose construction leans least on the chip complex was the one that rose. With the bond market shut, equities spent the day without their usual anchor, which is why a single Fed speech and a repriced hike probability carried as far as they did. The split is the same one Asia and Europe traded hours earlier, with the sellers of the premium on one side and its payers on the other. Of the 31 indices we published on Monday, Madrid’s IBEX 35 led at 1.33 percent and Seoul’s Kospi lagged at 3.65 percent lower.
Outlook: The banks open the earnings season before Tuesday’s bell, with Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase reporting, and Tokyo returns from its holiday in our Asia wrap. OPEC’s Monthly Oil Market Report and the IMF’s World Economic Outlook land on Tuesday at the Bangkok Annual Meetings, Wednesday brings the US consumer inflation report, and Thursday producer prices and retail sales, as published in our Week Ahead of 11 to 17 October. The Treasury’s next par yield curve publishes on Tuesday and will be read against Friday’s.
How these wraps are prepared: Methodology.
Sources: CNBC, Reuters, SIFMA, The Edge.
