Gold price conquers $3,100 for the first time ever on tariff war fears

TradingKey - In the upcoming week (October 19 to October 23), the US market will shift its focus from this week's inflation data to the third-quarter earnings season and economic growth data. US September CPI released this week rose 3.7% year-on-year, while PPI climbed 1.3% month-on-month, marking the largest single-month gain since March 2022; September retail sales grew 0.8% month-on-month and 6.3% year-on-year, indicating that while inflationary pressures remain elevated, US consumer spending maintains a degree of resilience.

TradingKey - Netflix (NFLX) will report its third-quarter 2026 financial results after the US market close on October 20. With the company's stock price currently hovering around $70 and investor sentiment turning noticeably cautious, this earnings report could serve as a critical turning point for its short-term trajectory.

On Friday, October 16, Eastern Time, U.S. stocks moved lower as technology and artificial intelligence (AI)-related shares extended their weekly decline. Investor concerns persisted regarding Chinese semiconductor competition and debt-fueled expansion in AI infrastructure, while rising oil prices also drew attention to the inflation outlook. Energy stocks bucked the trend to gain ground, partially mitigating the Dow's losses. At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.34% to 52,002.41; the Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 2.14% to 26,140.03; and the S&P 500 Index declined 1.09% to 7,659.44.

On October 16, memory stocks suffered another setback on Friday: SK Hynix (SKHY) fell over 5%, while SanDisk (SNDK) and Micron (MU) both dropped more than 4%, bringing their weekly pullbacks to 18%, 15%, and 13%, respectively. Market concerns grew that progress on the 4F2 architecture announced by ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) could ease the memory chip shortage, thereby dragging down prices and manufacturer profits. Behind this pullback lie two questions spanning different time horizons: whether immediate supply remains tight, and how much impact CXMT's future capacity expansion will bring.

TradingKey - On October 15, TSMC (TSM) released its third-quarter financial results for 2026. Driven by sustained growth in demand for AI chips and advanced nodes, the company's revenue and net profit both reached record highs, with net profit surging nearly 69% year-over-year and beating market expectations.