Bitcoin (^BTCUSD) climbed more than 5% to a two-week high on Friday, September 18, 2026, and crossed the $80,000 mark after the SEC advanced a plan to let digital versions of securities begin trading in the United States, according to Nasdaq. Broader US equities finished mixed as crude oil pushed inflation expectations and Treasury yields higher.
The S&P 500 Index ($SPX) (SPY) closed down 0.11% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ($DOWI) (DIA) fell 0.39%, while the Nasdaq 100 Index ($IUXX) (QQQ) gained 0.09%. December E-mini S&P futures (ESZ26) slipped 0.15% and December E-mini Nasdaq futures (NQZ26) added 0.04%.
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Key facts
- Bitcoin rose more than 5% to a two-week high, with Nasdaq noting the cryptocurrency had crossed $80,000 after the SEC said it would move forward with a plan to allow digital versions of securities to trade in the US.
- The 10-year T-note yield rose about 6 basis points to 5.00% as WTI crude oil gained nearly 1%, lifting inflation expectations.
- Citadel Securities estimated roughly $7 trillion of options were set to expire Friday in the quarterly event known as triple witching, one of the largest such expirations on record.
- Strategy (MSTR) gained more than 11% to lead Nasdaq 100 advancers, and Coinbase Global (COIN) rose more than 10% to lead the S&P 500, according to Nasdaq.
- CNBC reported that the Bank of Japan raised its policy rate to 1.25%, its highest level since 1995, in a 7-2 split vote with board members Toichiro Asada and Ayano Sato dissenting.
Broad indexes mixed as yields and crude rise
Crude oil was the day’s main pressure point for equities. October WTI crude futures (CLV26) were up nearly 1% as Middle East tensions continued to disrupt supplies, with the market partly restrained by hopes that diplomacy can end hostilities and restore flows. Reuters reported that China privately asked Iran to help rein in Houthi militants in Yemen, who have attacked energy facilities in Saudi Arabia and advanced toward the Bab-el-Mandeb strait.
US Energy Secretary Wright said Wednesday that 18 million barrels of crude oil and refined products moved through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday. Saudi Arabia said it aims to restore roughly half the capacity of the East-West pipeline within days after a shutdown late last week caused by drone strikes. That pipeline carries 7 million bpd, and Saudi Arabia told OPEC last Thursday that its August crude output fell to 6.238 million bpd, the lowest since 1990.
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Weaker US economic data also weighed on sentiment. August manufacturing production unexpectedly fell 0.3% month over month, against expectations of a 0.3% gain and the largest drop in 10 months. August leading indicators also unexpectedly fell 0.1%, against expectations of a 0.1% increase and the first decline in five months.
In rates, December 10-year T-notes (ZNZ6) fell 12 ticks and the 10-year yield rose about 6.6 bp to 4.996%, pressured by the oil rally and by carryover from Wednesday, when the Fed raised rates by 25 bp and signaled another increase later this year. Markets priced a 58% chance of a 25 bp Fed hike at the FOMC meeting on October 27-28.
Chips gain, software and cybersecurity slide
Semiconductor and AI-infrastructure shares led the upside. The iShares Semiconductor ETF (SOXX) rose more than 1%, with SanDisk (SNDK) up more than 6%, Lam Research (LRCX) and Applied Materials (AMAT) up more than 4%, and Seagate (STX) and Broadcom (AVGO) up more than 3%. Western Digital (WDC), KLA Corp (KLAC) and Texas Instruments (TXN) gained more than 2%, while ARM, ASML, Micron and Analog Devices each added more than 1%.
Cryptocurrency-exposed equities tracked Bitcoin higher. Beyond MSTR and COIN, MARA Holdings, Circle Internet Group, Bullish and Robinhood Markets were up more than 7%, Galaxy Digital Holdings gained more than 6%, Riot Platforms rose more than 3%, and Iren Ltd added more than 1%.
Software and cybersecurity names dragged on the index. Thomson Reuters and Oracle fell more than 3%, IBM dropped more than 3% to lead Dow losers, and Datadog and Workday lost more than 2%. Cloudflare (NET) dropped more than 5%, while Palo Alto Networks and SentinelOne fell more than 4%. Xenon Pharmaceuticals (XENE) plunged more than 29% after pausing enrollment in clinical studies for major depressive disorder and bipolar depression. Nucor (NUE) fell more than 5% to lead S&P 500 decliners after guiding Q3 EPS to $5.55-$5.65 versus a $5.99 consensus. Netflix (NFLX) dropped more than 4% after Wells Fargo Securities downgraded the stock to underweight with a $57 price target. Macom Technology Solutions rose more than 4% on a BMO Capital Markets upgrade to outperform with a $335 target, and Yeti Holdings gained more than 3% on a Stifel upgrade to buy with a $50 target. Index rebalancing added Bloom Energy, Illumina and Everpure to the S&P 500 after the close, while SpaceX received a weighting boost from a Nasdaq 100 rebalance, Nasdaq reported.
BOJ hike lands with a softer-than-expected tone
CNBC reported that Japanese markets reacted counterintuitively Friday after the Bank of Japan raised its benchmark rate to 1.25%, the highest in 31 years. The yen weakened past 157 per dollar, the 10-year Japanese Government Bond yield slipped, and the Nikkei 225 gained 1.5%.
Analysts attributed the reaction to the 7-2 split vote. “The two dissenting votes in favor of keeping rates unchanged came as a surprise,” said Hirofumi Suzuki, chief FX strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. Asada pointed to core inflation of 1.7% in August, down from 1.8% in July, as a reason to hold, while Sato said economic and price developments had not accelerated substantially. Reuters reported that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stressed the need for higher BOJ rates in a May meeting with Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama. Market participants see another hike, likely in December, on the table, with State Street’s Masahiko Loo expecting Governor Kazuo Ueda to keep every meeting “live.”
Elsewhere in rates, the 10-year German bund yield rose 4.6 bp to 3.523% and the 10-year UK gilt added 8.2 bp to 5.304%. The ECB’s August 1-year CPI expectation rose to 3.0% from 2.9%, while the 3-year expectation rose to 2.9% from 2.7%. German August PPI rose 1.1% month over month and 4.6% year over year, the largest annual gain in 3.25 years. UK August retail sales ex-auto fuel unexpectedly rose 0.6% month over month. Markets priced a 62% chance of a 25 bp ECB hike at the October 29 meeting. The Euro Stoxx 50 fell 1.30%, China’s Shanghai Composite rose 0.94% to a one-week high, and Japan’s Nikkei-225 climbed 1.38% to a one-week high.
Why it matters
The session showed two forces pulling at once: a crypto bid strong enough to lift Bitcoin above $80,000 and crypto-linked equities by double digits, and a rates backdrop steady enough to keep the 10-year yield near 5.00% and the Fed’s next move in play. For crypto investors, the SEC’s move on tokenized securities is the more durable signal, because it points to a US trading venue decision rather than a sentiment swing. For stock investors, the split between chips and software shows the market is rewarding AI-infrastructure exposure while punishing slower-growth software names.
What to watch
Markets are pricing a 58% chance of a 25 bp Fed hike at the FOMC meeting on October 27-28, and a 62% chance of a 25 bp ECB hike on October 29. Saudi Arabia’s stated goal of restoring about half the East-West pipeline’s capacity within days, and the SEC’s next step on digital-security trading, are the two concrete events that will move this story.
This article is for informational purposes and is not financial advice. Cryptocurrency and equity markets are volatile and prices can change quickly.
Sources: Nasdaq, Cnbc
