Overnight US stocks | U.S. August inflation slows, three major indices close mixed; Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG.US, GOOGL.US) releases Gemini 4 Argon model.

Wednesday saw the three major indices close mixed, as the latest economic data showed U.S. inflation slowed last month. The August personal consumption expenditures price index rose 3.4% year-over-year, down from 3.7% the previous month. Core PCE, excluding food and energy, rose 3% year-over-year, down from 3.3% the previous month. Wednesday was both the last day of September and the final day of the third quarter. In September, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones closed lower, while the Nasdaq rose over 1%. In the third quarter, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq gained 2%, while the Dow Jones fell nearly 2%. [US Stocks] At the close, the Dow Jones fell 441.25 points, or 0.86%, to 50,908.67; the S&P 500 fell 18.90 points, or 0.25%, to 7,651.94; the Nasdaq Composite rose 63.52 points, or 0.24%, to 26,861.06. Intel Corporation (INTC.US) rose 3.71%, Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) rose 1.1%, NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) rose 0.51%, Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG.US) rose 0.93%; Moderna (MRNA.US) fell 5.35%, Ford Motor Company (F.US) fell 1.95%. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index rose 0.6%, Baidu Inc Sponsored ADR Class A (BIDU.US) rose 0.18%, Alibaba Group Holding Limited Sponsored ADR (BABA.US) fell 0.17%. [European Stocks] Germany's DAX30 fell 177.55 points, or 0.70%, to 25,197.74; the UK's FTSE 100 fell 30.80 points, or 0.29%, to 10,605.91; France's CAC40 fell 71.36 points, or 0.89%, to 7,964.51; the Euro Stoxx 50 fell 52.31 points, or 0.83%, to 6,267.95; Spain's IBEX35 fell 90.82 points, or 0.47%, to 19,426.68; Italy's FTSE MIB fell 462.44 points, or 0.89%, to 51,342.50. [Asia-Pacific Stocks] Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 1.94%, South Korea's KOSPI fell 0.48%, Indonesia's composite index fell 0.83%. [Forex] The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major currencies, rose 0.08% on the day, closing at 101.451 in late foreign exchange trading. As of late New York trading, 1 euro exchanged for 1.1332 dollars, down from 1.1341 dollars the previous trading day; 1 pound exchanged for 1.3262 dollars, up from 1.3229 dollars the previous trading day. 1 dollar exchanged for 157.34 yen, up from 157.22 yen the previous trading day; 1 dollar exchanged for 0.8354 Swiss francs, up from 0.8336 Swiss francs the previous trading day; 1 dollar exchanged for 1.4229 Canadian dollars, up from 1.4178 Canadian dollars the previous trading day; 1 dollar exchanged for 10.0103 Swedish kronor, up from 9.9892 Swedish kronor the previous trading day. The dollar index rose nearly 2% in September, its best monthly performance since March. The Federal Reserve refocused policy on curbing inflation, driving up market rate hike expectations and U.S. Treasury yields, providing support for the dollar. Although the latest PCE inflation came in below expectations, leading traders to lower their expectations for an October rate hike, the market has fully priced in a December hike and expects the Fed to tighten by about 90 basis points cumulatively over the next 12 months. Fed officials have also continued to send hawkish signals recently, with New York Fed President Williams saying another rate hike later this year "may be appropriate." Meanwhile, U.S. economic data remains strong, the Iran war has pushed up energy prices and heightened inflation risks, and the 30-year Treasury yield rose to its highest since 2002 this week. In September, all G10 currencies except the yen fell against the dollar. However, some technical indicators suggest the dollar's rally may be starting to overextend, with momentum indicators having entered overbought territory. [Cryptocurrencies] Bitcoin hovered near 83,000 dollars, at 83,560 dollars as of publication; Ethereum fell 0.1% to 2,678 dollars. [Precious Metals] Spot gold was at 4,156.92 dollars per ounce; spot silver was at 60.42 dollars per ounce. [Crude Oil] November-delivery light crude futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 1.04 dollars to close at 90.42 dollars per barrel, a gain of 1.16%; November-delivery London Brent crude futures rose 94 cents to close at 103.53 dollars per barrel, a gain of 0.92%. [Macro News] Fed's Cook: Committed to bringing inflation back to the 2% target. Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook said U.S. headline inflation has remained above the Fed's 2% target for more than five years, and she supported a 25 basis point rate hike at the September meeting, emphasizing her commitment to restoring price stability while keeping the job market strong. She said rural communities in the U.S. have about 20 million workers, accounting for about one-eighth of the U.S. workforce, with an overall unemployment rate close to the national level but a lower labor force participation rate, and job growth in recent years slower than in urban areas. Rural inflation was at one point higher than urban inflation after the pandemic, mainly due to rising energy prices and housing costs. Cook noted that rural households spend about a quarter of their total expenditures on transportation, higher than urban households, so rising energy prices affect rural residents more noticeably. She also noted that small businesses play an important role in the rural economy, with about 4.3 million small businesses in rural America, accounting for more than 96% of local businesses and providing 7.4 million jobs. Trump again criticizes Fed renovation project, calls for investigation of Powell. U.S. President Trump posted that a report by the Fed's inspector general showed "project management deficiencies" in the renovation of the Federal Reserve headquarters in Washington, D.C. Trump criticized the project for severe cost overruns, saying it exceeded the budget by hundreds of millions of dollars, and that according to the report the final cost would reach at least 2.5 billion dollars, and asked Attorney General Todd Blanche to study the report and decide on next steps. Trump cited the report as saying the Fed's Board of Governors did not receive a project cost estimate from the construction manager until January 2026, by which time three and a half years had passed since the project began and more than 2 billion dollars in construction contracts had already been awarded. As of July 2026, more than four years after the project began, the Fed still had not determined a guaranteed maximum price, making the final cost uncertain and failing to transfer the related risk to the construction manager. Trump said the project's final cost could rise to 3.5 billion dollars or even 4 billion dollars, and criticized that the building's design and historical elements might not be restored after the renovation, saying "they destroyed the beauty and glorious history of this building." He again demanded that then-Fed Chair Powell resign, and said that if he refuses, the U.S. government should consider pursuing accountability through legal channels. U.S. oil industry warns diesel prices may not return to normal within a year. According to reports, U.S. oil and gas companies warned that diesel prices may take more than a year to return to 2025 levels. A Dallas Fed survey of 100 energy companies showed that nearly half of respondents expect diesel prices to fall back to normal levels only after more than four quarters. The survey showed that the Iran war disrupted Middle East supply, and Ukrainian attacks on Russian refining facilities together worsened the global diesel supply crunch. One energy company respondent said diesel is a vital fuel for the economy, and the market is only just beginning to feel the impact of high prices on the broader economy. The Trump administration has recently been discussing measures including restricting diesel exports and pushing allies to release inventories to lower domestic fuel costs. Analysts warned that although a diesel export ban might increase U.S. domestic supply in the short term, it could push up fuel prices in the long term and hit markets such as Europe and Latin America that rely on U.S. diesel supply. SEC proposes easing private investment thresholds to push retail investors into private markets. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday proposed a series of reforms aimed at expanding individual investors' access to private markets, giving more retail investors exposure to private equity, early-stage startups and other alternative assets. One proposal would allow registered investment advisers to charge performance fees of up to 20% based on performance, bringing the fee model closer to the "2% management fee + 20% performance fee" structure of some hedge funds, in order to attract more private fund managers to serve individual investors. SEC Chair Paul Atkins said the commission wants to explore ways to expand individual investor participation in private markets while guarding against fraud and misconduct. The SEC also proposed broadening the definition of "accredited investor" to allow more professionally qualified individuals, including certified public accountants and chartered financial analysts, to qualify for investment. U.S. EV electricity demand growth falls to three-year low. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said that as EV demand slows, the growth rate of U.S. electric vehicle electricity consumption has fallen to its lowest level in at least three years, another sign of cooling in the EV market. Data released by the EIA on Wednesday showed that in the first half of 2026, electricity consumption by light-duty EVs, including passenger cars, rose 8% year-over-year, well below the 13% to 24% growth rates of recent years. Previously, that growth rate peaked at 24% in the second half of 2023. The slowdown in EV electricity demand comes as market demand also weakens. The federal tax credit that previously lowered purchase and lease costs expired in September 2025. According to EIA data, U.S. new EV sales in the first half of 2026 fell 19% from the previous six months. Meanwhile, automakers including Ford Motor Company and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Sponsored ADR have cut poorly selling EV models since late last year. However, even as sales growth slows, light-duty EV electricity consumption has more than doubled since 2023. EIA data showed that U.S. light-duty EV electricity consumption approached 14 billion kilowatt-hours in the first half of this year. [Individual Stock News] NVIDIA Corporation, Meta and other AI giants question Anthropic's "excessive warnings." According to reports, after the White House pushed major U.S. AI companies to sign a statement of AI safety principles, divisions within the industry over AI risk and regulatory approaches came to the surface. People familiar with the matter said that tech executives including NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) CEO Jensen Huang asked Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei during a White House event why he had previously publicly emphasized risks such as cyberattacks and extreme unemployment that AI models could bring, believing his public statements were too aggressive. Amodei responded that the industry needs to honestly explain AI model capabilities and potential risks to the public rather than downplay the issues. The discussion took place during a meeting between Trump and about a dozen AI company executives to push the industry to establish self-regulatory mechanisms. Anthropic has long advocated stricter safety measures and has criticized some companies and governments for underestimating AI risks; while executives such as NVIDIA Corporation and Meta Platforms (META.US) CEO Zuckerberg support a more industry-self-regulatory, fast-development approach to AI. Previously, Anthropic, OpenAI and Alphabet Inc. Class C considered establishing an AI regulatory body similar to financial industry self-regulatory organizations, but the plan was ultimately abandoned because Huang, Zuckerberg and SpaceX (SPCX.US) CEO Musk worried the mechanism could concentrate more power in leading AI companies. Musk returns to Trump camp, joins Pentagon future warfare research project. U.S. Defense Secretary Hegseth announced that SpaceX (SPCX.US) CEO Musk, Anduril founder Palmer Luckey and former House Speaker Gingrich will lead the Pentagon's "Project Meridian" to study the future form of warfare and next-generation military capabilities. Hegseth said the project aims to draw on the experience of American innovators, technology experts and veteran leaders to explore the key domains, weapons and systems needed in future conflicts, rather than drafting new policy documents. The project is expected to submit final results within 120 days, and release both a public version and a classified report. The project is also Musk's first formal advisory role related to the Trump administration since he publicly fell out with Trump last year and left the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk's SpaceX has long carried out U.S. national security launch missions, while Anduril provides jamming equipment, interception systems, rocket engines and unmanned combat systems to the U.S. defense sector. Micron's first-quarter revenue guidance beats expectations as AI demand remains strong. Micron Technology, Inc. (MU.US) reported fiscal 2026 Q4 revenue of 54.229 billion dollars, compared with 11.315 billion dollars a year earlier and market expectations of 50.584 billion dollars. Micron Technology, Inc. also gave current-quarter sales guidance above expectations, as the rapid development of artificial intelligence has driven unprecedented demand. The company said in a Wednesday statement that it expects revenue in the first quarter of the next fiscal year to be about 60 billion to 63 billion dollars, while analysts on average expected 56.8 billion dollars. The company expects memory and storage supply-demand conditions in fiscal 2027 and fiscal 2028 to be much tighter than in 2026. Excluding certain items, profit will be about 38.15 dollars per share, compared with a forecast of 36.02 dollars. After the report was released, the stock rose less than 1% in after-hours trading. Morgan Stanley analysts said: "We believe that near-term market conditions remain very good, with strong demand and price increases evident. The focus of discussion has clearly shifted from how good it can get to how long the upside can last?" Alphabet Inc. Class C releases Gemini 4 Argon model, focusing on complex reasoning and AI programming capabilities. Alphabet Inc. Class C (GOOG.US)'s DeepMind released a new-generation frontier model, Gemini 4 Argon, saying the model has frontier performance in complex tasks such as software engineering, enterprise knowledge work (including legal and financial) and cybersecurity defense. Alphabet Inc. Class C said Gemini 4 Argon is currently being made available to some trusted cybersecurity defenders through the "Project Fairwind" program, and will be gradually rolled out to developers, enterprises and consumers after safety measures are further improved. The model's initial pricing is 2 dollars per million input tokens and 10 dollars per million output tokens, with cached input tokens priced 95% lower than input prices. Alphabet Inc. Class C said Argon supports output lengths of up to 1 million tokens, up from 64,000 tokens previously, and can be used to handle longer and more complex tasks. Alphabet Inc. Class C said Argon has already been used for internal code development, research and engineering optimization tasks, including helping the quantum computing team optimize algorithms, analyze data center operating data and free more than 300 TiB of memory resources. In software engineering, Alphabet Inc. Class C said Gemini 4 Argon scored 77.9% on the DeepSWE v1.1 real-world software engineering test and performed leadingly in evaluations in financial research, legal research and enterprise automation. In cybersecurity, Alphabet Inc. Class C said Argon can autonomously discover, verify and fix software vulnerabilities, and scored 68% on the CWE-bench v1 vulnerability remediation test, tying for first place with the highest-level models. Alphabet Inc. Class C said that before fully opening access, it will continue to strengthen measures such as anti-abuse, prompt injection attack protection, model behavior monitoring and secure sandboxes. Alphabet Inc. Class C said Gemini 4 Argon will subsequently be made available to paid API customers and Google AI Ultra users.