Market Brief — September 28, 2026

U.S. equities fell as higher oil prices and rising Treasury yields pressured risk assets, with SPX down about 0.8%, ^IXIC down 0.9%, and DJIA down 0.7% on the day. In Europe, FRA40 was broadly flat while UKX slipped around 0.1% and DAX lost 0.1%, and China’s 000001.SS also ended unchanged. The move came as Brent crude (UKOIL) spiked above $108 a barrel, global bond yields rose, and investors digested Middle East tensions around the closed Strait of Hormuz and the Bank of England’s multi-year gilt-sale plan.

The Bank of England said its balance sheet has stopped shrinking and detailed plans to unwind about £488 billion of gilts by 2034, selling roughly £20 billion per year while retaining £120 billion in long-dated bonds, as Bloomberg reported US two-, five-, and ten-year yields up around 10 basis points and UK 10-year gilts up about 6 basis points alongside higher oil prices. Brent crude (UKOIL) rose to $108.68 a barrel and WTI to about $96.30 after President Trump rejected an Iranian ceasefire proposal and Iran refused to soften conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, keeping the waterway closed and helping push the US 10-year yield to roughly 5.27% and the 30-year above 5.5%. On the data and trade front, India’s industrial production accelerated to 8% year on year in August versus 7.4% previously and 6.5% consensus, Mexico’s August trade balance swung to a $0.605 billion surplus from a $0.848 billion deficit but missed the $1.4 billion consensus, and the United States and China published reciprocal $30 billion nonsensitive product lists that will cut tariffs on more than 90% of covered items toward most-favored-nation levels.

Nvidia (NVDA) gained roughly 2% after increasing its share buyback authorization by $150 billion, raising remaining repurchase capacity to about $235 billion with completion targeted by the end of fiscal 2028. TotalEnergies advanced 0.8% in Paris as it lifted fourth-quarter share buybacks to $2.5 billion, guided to $2.0–2.5 billion of repurchases in early 2027, and pledged dividend growth of more than 5% annually through 2030, while Shein’s shares extended a roughly 27–28% decline since its Hong Kong IPO after first-half 2026 operating income fell nearly 53% even as revenue rose just 1% to $20.1 billion. Crypto and energy markets also shaped sentiment, with Bitcoin dropping as much as 2.2% to $82,702 despite about $2.39 billion of net inflows into US spot Bitcoin ETFs during the week of September 21–25 and Dutch front-month gas futures rising 2.2% to €73.67 per megawatt-hour as Europe moved to absorb about a quarter of global LNG supplies amid Qatar force majeure extensions and Hormuz-related disruptions. TransDigm completed its acquisition of Prince & Izant, while Leica Biosystems closed its purchase of StatLab and Virtualware completed the acquisition of British company Virtalis. The Visualize Group finalized its acquisition of eCOGRA and Alloy Holdings completed acquisitions of GSM Metals and Cimini & Associates, as Sterling Organization, ECGI Holdings, HCLSoftware, an affiliate of Jefferson Energy Companies, and FTAI announced new deals covering three grocery-anchored shopping centers totaling 277,057 square feet in California and Hawaii, 100% of Avanta Group, Robotiq.ai, crude oil logistics assets from USD Group, and 27 Boeing 737-700 aircraft from WestJet.