rai

Iran has stated that the Strait of Hormuz is currently closed, and passage must be coordinated.

In September, the U.S. CPI rose 3.7% year-on-year and 0.6% month-on-month, while the core CPI increased 2.6% year-on-year and 0.3% month-on-month, all exceeding market expectations. Following the data release, market bets on a 25 basis point rate hike by the Federal Reserve in October rose to about 40%, up from around 20% the previous day.The Federal Reserve just raised rates by 25 basis points last month, marking its first rate hike of 2023. The next rate decision will be announced on October 28, just 6 days before the U.S. midterm elections on November 3. Inflation continues to remain above the Federal Reserve's 2% target, and economic activity remains resilient, providing grounds for further rate hikes.Economists from institutions such as Jefferies and Nationwide believe that there is data support for rate hikes in both October and December. Some analysts also expect that the Federal Reserve may consider the timing of the elections and potential economic vulnerabilities, choosing to delay until December. Historical data shows that the Federal Reserve rarely raises rates in October or November before midterm elections, and the market will be paying attention to Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Walsh's remarks before entering the pre-meeting blackout period.

According to Axios, senior advisors to Ukrainian President Zelensky communicated with White House officials to inquire whether a decision had been made to cut off "Starlink" services and to discuss solutions. The Ukrainian side also had similar communications with the CIA and the Pentagon. White House officials stated that they could not control SpaceX, and the Trump administration would contact SpaceX to understand the situation.

Driven by the impact of the Iran war, U.S. CPI for September, not seasonally adjusted, rose to 3.7%, further increasing the cost of living pressure on Americans as the midterm elections in November approach. The not seasonally adjusted core CPI year-on-year rate increased from 2.4% in August to 2.6%.After the data was released, U.S. Treasury yields surged, international gold and silver prices plummeted, and the U.S. dollar index rose, while the market increased bets on three more interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve before the end of 2027. The data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics marks the first increase in U.S. inflation rates since May, highlighting that the energy price shocks triggered by the Middle East war continue to affect the world's largest economy.After the outbreak of the war, gasoline and diesel prices soared, then retreated during the summer, but in recent months, as tensions escalated, fuel prices rose again, pushing diesel prices to a historic high. U.S. President Trump has been trying to control the impact of rising energy prices.Polls show that dissatisfied voters may direct their discontent toward the Republican Party in next month's midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress.

U.S. short-term interest rate futures fell as the market increased bets on the Federal Reserve raising interest rates after the inflation data was released. The U.S. Dollar Index DXY rose nearly 40 points in the short term, currently reported at 102.52.In addition, the market has increased bets on the Federal Reserve raising interest rates three more times before the end of 2027.

The Ukrainian military reported that SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet system is facing new usage restrictions. Polish Foreign Minister Sikorski questioned Musk whether he is using the product to play politics.An advisor to the Ukrainian president stated that SpaceX has imposed restrictions on Starlink terminals, and Ukraine has not received any notification. Starlink has become an important infrastructure for communication on the Ukrainian battlefield, with Poland funding part of the costs.

An advisor to Zelensky stated that SpaceX has set speed limits on the terminals used by the Ukrainian military.

Ukrainian President Zelensky stated that the Russian military's ballistic missile strikes specifically targeted energy infrastructure, which is exactly what the ceasefire agreement announced by the U.S. President covers.

Dutch semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML has raised its full-year sales forecast for the third consecutive quarter, expecting sales in 2026 to be between 44 billion and 45 billion euros. Net sales in the third quarter rose to 11.66 billion euros.ASML plans to increase the production capacity of its low numerical aperture extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment by 30% next year and stated that it will not be able to fully meet market demand in 2027 and 2028.

BlackRock Investment Institute announced an upgrade in the allocation rating for U.S. Treasuries, ending nearly six years of an underweight position, citing that the potential investment returns have become more attractive after a significant rise in U.S. Treasury yields. At the same time, BlackRock downgraded the rating for U.S. stocks to neutral and increased the allocation of U.S. Treasuries of different maturities, overall preferring short-term bonds.

According to a report by The Paper, the case of Qian Zhimin, involving over 40 billion yuan in illegal fundraising and more than 60,000 bitcoins, has seen new developments in domestic judicial procedures. The Tianjin Second Intermediate People's Court announced that it has accepted the Tianjin People's Procuratorate Second Branch's application to confiscate the illegal gains of the suspect Qian Zhimin as of September 28.According to the property confiscation list published by the Tianjin Second Intermediate Court, in addition to bitcoins, the involved virtual currencies also include 72,745.79502 bitcoins cash, 72,745.78555 bitcoins gold, 72,745.7845 bitcoins Satoshi Vision, 3,605,989.9995 ripples, and 70,081,208.62553222 dogecoins (which have been converted and deposited into an interest-bearing account by British judicial authorities). Additionally, the confiscated assets also include cash in US dollars, euros, and British pounds, jewelry, as well as bank balances and investment portfolios.The Tianjin People's Procuratorate Second Branch believes that Qian Zhimin is suspected of fundraising fraud, and after fleeing, he has been wanted for a year without appearing in court. There is evidence proving that over 61,800 bitcoins and other assets seized in the UK belong to illegal gains and their proceeds, and should be recovered along with the transformed and converted properties and proceeds, except for those legally returned to the harmed fundraising participants, which should be confiscated.

The stablecoin payment platform Rain announced the launch of the Rain Wallet through its official account. Rain stated that a single stablecoin balance can now be used within the financial system and positioned the product as a new primary account.The announcement shows that the wallet supports receiving payments and earning rewards, can be used for purchases at 175 million merchants, and allows transfers using over 50 currencies.

According to CME's "FedWatch" data, the probability of the Federal Reserve maintaining interest rates in October is 76.2%, while the probability of a 25 basis point rate hike is 23.8%.

Bitcoin Treasury Company Strive (ASST) announced the launch of a new class of perpetual preferred stock, SATS, with a fixed dividend rate of 15%. The company plans to issue 5 million shares at a price of $100 per share, raising a total of $500 million.The new shares will have a lower repayment priority than Strive's existing perpetual preferred stock, SATA, which has a floating dividend rate currently at 13%. Like SATA, SATS will pay dividends daily. After the issuance is completed, the company plans to set aside a dividend reserve equivalent to 18 months of SATS dividend payments. The proceeds will be used to purchase Bitcoin, acquire income-generating assets, or repurchase shares.Strive has been continuously increasing its Bitcoin holdings recently. The company purchased 3,311 Bitcoins last week, bringing its total holdings to 32,773 Bitcoins, valued at approximately $2.7 billion at current prices, compared to less than 20,000 Bitcoins three months ago. Unlike most Bitcoin treasury companies, including larger peers like Strategy, Strive has been able to significantly expand its Bitcoin holdings in recent weeks.

According to The Information, OpenAI is in preliminary talks to acquire the security startup Trail of Bits.

Federal Reserve's Williams stated that another rate hike this year is appropriate.

The unresolved ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine has led to a rebound in crude oil prices, and the market's bets on another interest rate hike before the end of the year are heating up, putting pressure on the gold and silver markets once again. According to CoinGlass data, gold (XAU) is currently priced at $4,183.22, with a 24-hour decline of 0.61%; silver (XAG) is currently priced at $60.25, with a 24-hour decline of 1.42%.During the market fluctuations, the trading volume of related contracts on Gate has continued to rise: the trading volume of Gate silver contracts reached $124 million in 24 hours, ranking second in the industry; the trading volume of Gate gold contracts reached $363 million in 24 hours, firmly holding third place in the industry; meanwhile, the open interest of Gate XAU gold contracts reached $411 million, ranking second in the industry.Gate has pioneered the trading sector for perpetual metal contracts and CFD contracts, covering mainstream metal trading targets such as gold, silver, and platinum, supporting 24/7 trading and USDT settlement. Relying on Gate's innovative unified account system, users can configure diverse assets such as stocks, metals, foreign exchange, indices, and commodities without cross-platform operations, helping users achieve a more flexible and efficient one-stop global asset strategy layout amid volatile markets.

According to Bloomberg, European venture capital firm Sprints has completed the fundraising for its fifth fund, totaling 725 million euros (approximately 810 million dollars). Henrik Persson, co-founder and managing partner of the firm, stated that the fundraising took about a year, and more than half of the funds have already been deployed for investments in new companies and the existing portfolio, with investors including endowment funds, foundations, pension funds, and family offices.Sprints made early investments in Revolut and is the largest shareholder of the second-hand trading app Vinted, as well as investing in Flightradar24 and payment company Checkout.com. Its invested AI customer service company Fin was acquired by Salesforce this year for 3.6 billion dollars. Persson mentioned that the firm has not invested in any foundational AI companies, as most of these companies have not yet developed a business model.

The IMF World Economic Outlook report predicts that the global real GDP growth rate will be 3.1% in 2026, up from the July forecast of 3%, as investments in artificial intelligence have alleviated the energy price shocks in major economies.The forecast for the global economic growth rate in 2027 is 3.4%, unchanged from the July forecast.